Luis Romero, Basta Ya Puetro Rico, Inc.: When a father loses a son, when a mother loses a son, the devastation is incredible and it leaves a huge void. On April 18, 2011, my son was murdered. He wanted to dedicate his life for reduction of crime, so we decided "Basta Ya," which means "It's enough," would be the proper name and function of a foundation to create in his honor. The Safe Zone was created as a concept, and it includes the commitment by the business people to help the police solve crime. We talked to the police [about] the idea, and said, "We need something that technology helps breach and bring united, the community and the police."
SentiGuard is a mobile app that allows the citizen to send a crime report or a totally anonymous tip. Last year, through SentiGuard, 6,200 tips had been sent to the police department, where their telephone tip line only handled half the amount of tips. In early 2012, I showed the U.S. Coast Guard what we had, and a lot of Coast Guard people said, "Yeah, that looks good." So we could use what we had learned in developing a law enforcement system, and we could turn it into a national software to help the boating community save lives and also help the Coast Guard that had been so good with our son.
But we as community have to go out and say, "Okay, let's help. How can I help?" And out of that, the idea of a march came about. We want to challenge other agencies in the federal and state governments to figure out ways to work with the community in pursuant of victim rights and in the reduction of crime. So we went out there with an idea for a foundation to shake the tree at its roots, to hold the bull by the horns and do something with specific objectives of the reduction of crime and improving victim rights. And if you want to be someone in the community that helps the community where you're living in, volunteerism is key to it, and that's what we have done.
