Who owns Citizen app? CEO Andrew Frame put $30K bounty on homeless man falsely accusing him of starting wildfire
As wildfires swept through Southern California, an app called Citizen offered a bounty of $30,000 in cash to “hunt down” an alleged arsonist. However, the man pictured in the bounty had no connection to the fires. In fact, after he was located by law enforcement, he was quickly released for lack of evidence.
The man whose photo was shared as the alleged arsonist was a homeless man called Devin Hilton. Lt Jim Braden of the Sheriff’s Office said the deputies did not have evidence to charge the man with a crime. He called Citizen potentially “disastrous” and added that actions like these would only lead to someone getting hurt.
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In its aftermath, Citizen issued a statement saying: “We are actively working to improve our internal processes to ensure this does not occur again. This was a mistake we are taking very seriously.”
The app was reportedly first released under the name Vigilante in 2016 but was soon pulled from Apple’s App Store over concerns that it encouraged users to directly take on crime themselves. It was relaunched as Citizen in 2017.
Who owns Citizen?
As per internal communications obtained by The Verge, the bounty was personally mandated by Citizen founder and CEO Andrew Frame, who reportedly saw it as an opportunity to exercise the app’s policing powers and even offered to fund it with his own money.
The report said that on Saturday afternoon, May 16, before the live stream was broadcast where Hilton’s photo was circulated, Frame wrote in a company Slack thread that he would pay a $10,000 reward personally to catch an arsonist still in the area “as a test.”
“Let’s find this guy, activate safety network completely,” Frame allegedly wrote. “This is a great transition of Citizen back to active safety. We are not a news company. We are safety and we make this sort of heinous crime impossible to escape from. That needs to be our mindset.”
The Palisades Fire was set by an arsonist just after 10 pm on May 14, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. As per the Verge, property records indicate Frame is the current owner of a Bel Air mansion within 10 miles of the fire. A Citizen spokesperson, however, has denied any personal motivation and said Frame’s current residence was not threatened by the fire.
The app is also now starting a "pilot project" that could allow users to request private security to scenes. As per reports, a program for an in-person, on-demand private security force supposedly has been in the works for months. A black SUV with Citizen-branded logos has also reportedly been seen around Los Angeles.
A Citizen spokesperson said that the company is conducting this project with LAPS, or Los Angeles Private Security, an L.A.-based security firm. “LAPS offers a personal rapid response service that we are trialing internally with employees as a small test with one vehicle in Los Angeles," the Citizen spokesperson said. "For example, if someone would like an escort to walk them home late at night, they can request this service. We have spoken with various partners in designing this pilot project."