Shot-warning appsBrazil: Apps Warn Residents of Shootings

By Ines Eisele

Published 8 December 2020

Every year there are thousands of shooting incidents on Brazil’s streets in which innocent bystanders are injured or killed. In some cities, apps now give real-time warnings to residents about areas to avoid. This year alone, there have been at least 3,000 shootings in the state of Rio de Janeiro. But this statistic does not come from the authorities. The number is taken from data supplied by “Onde Tem Tiroteio” (OTT), a crowdsourcing app that warns users about shootouts and where users can report shooting incidents themselves. In English, “Onde Tem Tiroteio” literally means “Where is a shootout.”

Every year there are thousands of shooting incidents on Brazil’s streets in which innocent bystanders are injured or killed. In some cities, apps now give real-time warnings to residents about areas to avoid.

This week, Brazil was shaken by two Hollywood-style bank robberies. On Monday night, heavily armed men held up several banks in the southern city of Criciuma, terrifying residents. Mayor Clesio Salvaro used social media to appeal to citizens not to leave their homes. Media reports said that the criminals took several innocent bystanders hostage during the more than hourlong operation and used them as human shields. But the victims were all released unharmed, they said.

The robbery the next day in the north Brazilian city of Cameta did not end as happily. When some 20 criminals stormed a bank and took hostages, one innocent person was shot dead and another injured. The thieves escaped.

Having two such spectacular robberies in a short space of time is unusual even for Brazil, and the newspaper headlines reflected the fact. But armed violence is part of everyday life in the country, whether during holdups like these shootouts between drug gangs or militias, or exchanges of fire during police raids.

Crowdsourcing app warns users

This year alone, there have been at least 3,000 shootings in the state of Rio de Janeiro. But this statistic does not come from the authorities. The number is taken from data supplied by “Onde Tem Tiroteio” (OTT), a crowdsourcing app that warns users about shootouts and where users can report shooting incidents themselves. In English, “Onde Tem Tiroteio” literally means “Where is a shootout.”

It was started by four friends in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

We have all experienced dicey incidents, and we noticed that there was no way to get information in real time about dangerous streets and situations,” said Dennis Coli, a programmer who takes care of the technical side of things and publicity. “Our main aim is for people to be able to get from A to B more safely with our help.”

Coli’s colleagues, Benito Quintanilha, Henrique Coelho and Marco Baptista, are in charge of daily business. They try to verify details about shootouts. Users receive push notifications on their smartphone when something is happening in their proximity. In the app, the reports about nearby gun battles are presented like a ticker; the incidents can also be located on a street map.