Area High Schoolers Create Web App To Address Low-Level Crime
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Some Philadelphia-area high school students are spending their summer developing a web "app" that maps small neighborhood crimes.
"There are different icons for every different type of crime," explains Kory Calicat-Wayns, who will be a senior at the Haverford School, as he demonstrates the app, named "Gotcha."
It was created by eleven students in Temple University's Urban Apps and Maps program. Calicat-Wayns says the app allows users to post small crimes that don't get a lot of attention from police or the news media.
"The people who commit those crimes, if they go unnoticed, they have room to grow into larger crimes like assault and murder. But while reporting those crimes, those people have nowhere to hide," he explains.
Temple business school professor Youngjin Yoo says the program teaches more than just software coding.
"By teaching them design, we teach the way to identify important problems to solve," he notes.
The students hope to release their "Gotcha" app in the fall. In the meantime, they've got a prime example of their work to include on their digital résumés.
