Crime app Citizen rolls out fee-based tool for U.S. users to contact safety agents

The logo for the Citizen app, is displayed on a screen in this picture illustration taken August 2, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Illustration

(Reuters) - U.S. crime alert app Citizen is launching its first paid feature, offering subscribers access to a live safety agent when they are in "stressful or uncertain situations".

Citizen uses crowdsourced content and police scanner traffic to notify users in the United States of local incidents. It has been criticized for promoting vigilantism, particularly after it posted a $30,000 reward to find a man wrongly suspected of arson in May.