That's how someone in Grant Park this afternoon received a notice about a crime that happened hours ago near 51st and Halsted. (Julious says her cousin, who was miles away from Back of the Yards at the time, received the notification from a niece.) Once the algorithm notices an event, it prompts people who posted related statuses to mark themselves as safe, and allows them to ask friends to check in as well. A 16-year-old girl later died due to an asthma attack after witnessing the shooting. In this case, the violent crime was a shooting in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, which left two people dead from gunshot wounds. The algorithm's findings are checked against a third-party security company that provides data on major incidents throughout the country, including shootings and airport closings. You know Chicago is unsafe when Facebook have a safety check-in.Ī Facebook spokeswoman said the alert was community-generated, meaning that an algorithm had detected multiple Facebook statuses posted in a small geographic area about the same event. Social media posts around the city show some people confused about the reason for the alert or reacting to generic nature of the message. Minutes later, the option to check in disappeared and Facebook said the safety check had been turned off. Our culture contributor Britt Julious was waiting to enter a rain-delayed Lollapalooza in Grant Park today when she received a curious alert on her Facebook app-her cousin had just marked herself "safe" during what Facebook labeled "violent crime in Chicago, Illinois."įacebook said the event happened around 1 a.m., indicated an area that was miles away from her current location, and asked if she wanted to mark herself safe as well.