Kalinga Park, the site of many picnics, family activities and sporting events, was a huge part of Zanthea Chulio’s childhood. So, when the Nundah urban planner heard about the murder in the park in 2019, it strengthened her resolve to finish an app to help track the safest routes around Brisbane.
Ms Chulio’s initiative aims to boost public safety and, hopefully, prevent another tragedy in her neighbourhood. She is developing an app called Way Safer, in collaboration with Social Pinpoint, to capture the safest routes with CCTV camera locations so that pedestrians and commuters are aware of the conditions in the streets.
Way Safer is designed to work like Google Maps to provide travel directions but with identified safest routes. The app will have an option for users to choose directions with CCTV cameras installed only.
Though Ms Chulio said her project is not going to stop the crimes, she hopes that the app will help vulnerable people or women like her who take the train station near the site of the incident in Kalinga Park. She also hopes that the app will help police in their investigations to find the perpetrators and attackers of other crimes.
Ms Chulio has been working with communities across Brisbane and Logan City to improve the app. She recently came from a government-funded trip in Southeast Asia to gather ideas from flourishing tech start-ups.
The Nundah local has been developing Way Safer for months but needs more help from IT professionals to complete the project. The initiative does not have a projected release date, as of press time.
Way Safer is not endorsed by the Queensland Police Service (QPS) but a spokesperson said it’s not against initiatives that can matter to public safety.
The QPS assures the public, however, that the CCTV systems are routinely downloaded and viewed by members of the police force to identify offenders. The QPS also releases some data from the CCTV on their social media to tap the public’s help in their investigations.
