- Community Wolf is a newly released crime reporting tool available via the WhatsApp platform.
- It leverages eight LLMs to extract, structure, and distribute crime-related insights.
- The individual reporting is anonymous and can be used by private security firms, community policing forums, SAPS, and municipal authorities.
This month has seen a new solution, aimed at enhanced crime prevention, being made available to the South African public in the form of Community Wolf. For those unfamiliar, it is a solution that is delivered via the WhatsApp messaging platform and is designed for anonymous user reporting of crime-related incidents in any given community.
With the number of users on WhatsApp expected to hit 28 million in 2026, rolling out a crime prevention solution on the Meta-owned platform instead of a standalone app makes a lot of sense.
Outside of simple reporting, the solution also seeks to create detailed data-driven insights for use by others, in order to aid further crime prevention efforts.
“Community Wolf leverages the power of WhatsApp, collective vigilance, and AI-driven insights to enhance crime prevention. The platform operates on two complementary levels: first, as a free and anonymous crime and incident reporting tool for individuals, and second, as an intelligence layer for local Community Policing Forums (CPFs), municipal law enforcement, SAPS, and private security businesses to optimise their response networks,” it explained in a release shared with Hypertext.
“What we’ve effectively done is create a supercharged AI agent fit for purpose within the public safety domain. And we’re delivering that to people all over South Africa, no matter their location, language, or socioeconomic background,” added Nick Mills (pictured above), co-founder of Community Wolf.
In order to extract, structure, and distribute crime-related insights, this solution makes use of eight large language models (LLMs) trained to sift through vast amounts of WhatsApp group data almost instantaneously, according to Mills.
“The platform identifies key information, categorises incidents, and feeds actionable intelligence back to private security firms, CPFs, SAPS, and municipal authorities in a simple online dashboard,” the company highlighted.
“In addition to offering a central reporting number, Community Wolf has introduced AI-driven ‘Wolf Agents’ that can be easily added to existing community and security WhatsApp groups. These AI-driven agents sift through community messages in real-time, highlighting essential details and categorising incidents. By ensuring no critical information is overlooked, these Wolf Agents significantly enhance coordination, accelerate response times, and provide community members with peace of mind,” it continued.
Other interesting elements to Community Wolf include geolocation tracking and crime mapping capabilities, which allow incidents to be tagged and analysed in real time to provide a more comprehensive overview of safety trends in specific areas.
AI-driven pattern recognition further enhances these features by detecting trends such as near-repeat crimes, which can enable proactive intervention by security response teams.
“Community Wolf also incorporates advanced license plate and facial recognition technology, offering vital verification and tracking tools for law enforcement and security providers,” its co-founder explained.
“When vehicle details are shared through WhatsApp, an AI agent immediately checks the information against a national database, verifying license plates, vehicle registrations, and checking for any flags or associated incidents. With multilingual support, the platform aims for maximum accessibility for South Africans, allowing users to report incidents in their preferred language,” the company pointed out.
Moving forward, Community Wolf wants to scale, having already secured $100 000 (~R2 million) in funding from The Baobab Network, an Africa-focused venture capital firm. This funding will be used to enhance Community Wolf’s AI capabilities, expand its geographic reach, and strengthen partnerships with security stakeholders across the country, the company confirmed.
If you’re interested in signing up for Community Wolf, or want to explore partnership opportunities, you can visit its website here or message the platform on its dedicated WhatsApp number here.
[Images – Provided]
