The homicide of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson triggered a surge in company and private safety requests dubbed ‘Luigi impact’
SaferWatch, a safety platform designed to reinforce emergency response throughout private and non-private establishments, has seen a surge in inquiries from Fortune 500 firms trying to enhance safety for his or her C-suite executives and households.
The heightened curiosity began nearly instantly after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down in New York Metropolis in December.
These firms are actually trying to equip their executives and households with the SaferWatch LTE Panic Button, a mobile-enabled alert system that gives speedy entry to emergency help.
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“All of these companies are waking up, saying, ‘How do we protect our executives? How do we protect their families? How do we protect our key people that really run this operation?’” Geno Roefaro, CEO of SaferWatch, informed Fox Enterprise.
There has additionally been a rise in requests from prosperous clients trying to enhance safety for his or her households. For instance, they want to equip their youngsters heading off to varsity, in accordance with Roefaro.
Roefaro coined it the “Luigi effect.” He’s referring to Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old Ivy League graduate accused of capturing Thompson on Dec. 4, 2024, outdoors a Hilton lodge in Midtown Manhattan. Final month, Mangione pleaded not responsible to federal prices associated to the killing of Thompson. The trial is predicted to start in 2026.
A SaferWatch LTE Panic Button (SaferWatch)
Executives could be properly protected inside their workplaces, so firms are more and more specializing in defending them once they journey across the globe, in accordance with Roefaro.
“One of the biggest demands that we get is when, how do we protect our executives as they leave the office?” Roefaro mentioned, noting that assigning bodily safety guards to each govt and their members of the family is impractical and infrequently costly.
For smaller companies, it could not even be a possible choice, he added.
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Roefaro co-founded SaferWatch with the corporate’s present vp of product, Shannon Donev, after the 2016 Pulse Nightclub capturing in Orlando, Florida. The incident sparked a mission to develop quicker security options for each the private and non-private sectors. To try this, they created a discrete system to assist executives, different workers and their households get assist with out drawing any consideration.
SaferWatch’s 24/7/365 monitoring heart (SaferWatch)
“I think we all have that innate feeling of someone following us, someone behind us, right?” Roefaro mentioned, including that if Thompson had that concern he might have used a panic alarm, which might have alerted the safety group and allowed them to “potentially intervene.”
Urgent the button connects the person to both a 24/7 useful resource heart or on to 911, relying on the service that the corporate or faculty selects, for example.
Whereas direct 911 entry is a premium choice, costing at minimal $50,000 to $100,000 per yr, about 70% of consumers select it, in accordance with Roefaro.
This know-how eliminates the necessity for fundamental questions when somebody calls 911, such because the caller’s title, location or nature of the emergency, in accordance with SaferWatch’s web site. It additionally prevents delays which are attributable to misrouting to the unsuitable 911 heart. At school settings, for example, as soon as a 911 heart is alerted, onsite personnel, together with officers, safety groups, principals and workers, are instantly notified.
Whereas the service comes at a hefty worth, Roefaro mentioned the purpose is to ultimately get the product into the palms of on a regular basis residents, not simply executives and wealthier people.
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The corporate is partnering with greater than 6,000 private and non-private organizations, from colleges and main companies to small companies, throughout 31 states.
Inside SaferWatch’s 24/7/365 monitoring heart (SaferWatch)
In New York Metropolis, for instance, bodegas have even put in SaferWatch panic alarms beneath their registers, permitting workers to set off silent alerts in an emergency with out drawing any consideration.
Other than the panic buttons and 24/7 operations heart, the corporate employs practically 20 retired regulation enforcement executives to offer strategic assist.
The platform additionally options an nameless tip reporting system by way of its cellular app. When customers report suspicious exercise, the system mechanically shares their location and profile with directors and regulation enforcement to speed up response, in accordance with its web site.
