Public Safety At Your Fingertips – How An App Has Evolved The Investigation Process

By Sam Rose

In 2024, there were 57,359 reported car thefts in Canada. With these elevated rates of auto and petty theft occurring, a business opportunity emerged.

Colin Rees is the founder and CEO of WeWatch, which is a public safety mobile app designed to report incidents related to property damage and car theft, as well as assist police in the investigation process.  Based out of Stouffville,  Rees worked in sales for many years in various capacities, however, after he observed different aspects in the area of business,  he felt disheartened and thought he could do it better.  Rees attended Seneca Polytechnic's Business Management program and HELIX, the college's innovation incubator.  Following his graduation, he decided to merge his interests in public safety and media. He had a strong belief that you could create a business that 'does good' but can also be profitable. Being passionate with a keen understanding of how to be innovative in his thinking, Rees decided to follow his interests and create the app WeWatch.

Despite Rees's enthusiasm, WeWatch still has some critics as the organization has been slow to be adopted by the masses. Rees admitted that this project "is currently on the shelf" as his focus has shifted. Rees's new business venture is called Be Safe. This company helps employers coordinate and stay in communication with their employees even in remote locations.  Be Safe has secured contracts with major companies like WSP,  Rocky Mountain Equipment and Veracity Energy Services.

The WeWatch app allows users to log information about a crime including the location, the type of incident, the time it occurs, and whether you are a victim or a witness. Information that is compiled on the app can be done anonymously respecting the individual's privacy. It also can be reported with all the necessary information for police to contact those who gave a witness account of the incident or provide footage captured on the phone. The information is compiled into a centralized report which can be accessed by the community as well as law enforcement and insurance agencies.  Rees says the goal of this report is to bring recourse and justice while reporting incidents in a responsible and effective manner.

By using WeWatch, Rees believes, it makes the investigation process more efficient as all the information is compiled into a single central report. This saves law enforcement huge amounts of time from having to go door to door to question people regarding an incident.  Whereas they can just access the report online through the app and then pursue the necessary leads, without ever having set foot in the area where the incident occurred.

Rees is incredibly proud of the work he's been able to accomplish with his business partner and co-founder Daniel Rizzi including selling a pilot that was not completely built to the public sector. He was able to bring his ideas to fruition and update a system that he believed was not working. Rees believes that pumping money into a system that is old and broken is a waste of time and money.

WeWatch remains a priority for Rees however, he acknowledges that he must make some critical decisions for the company's future. Rees mentions putting more money and resources into marketing or selling the app to a law enforcement agency. For WeWatch to become a profitable business it requires mass adoption of the app by citizens and the police.

The question remains will the company be able to sway society into changing an old system and adopt their app?