People in China are downloading this app to video call the police… but the app doesn’t work yet

Users are trying to find ways to stay safe after a second Didi carpool passenger is killed

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The video calling function is not yet available on Police 110. (Picture: Police 110)

Published: 7:45pm, 28 Aug 2018Updated: 8:37am, 20 Sep 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

The killing of a second Didi carpool passenger has put Chinese internet users on edge. So now people are downloading an app that says you can video call the police -- but the app’s developer says you can’t actually do that yet.

On China’s iOS App Store, an app named Police 110 has been topping the free app charts for two days, after an article about local police departments enabling video calls in apps became popular on social media.

The article said that people can now directly make video calls to police officers in several major Chinese cities, and urged users to look up what apps their local government has to offer, though it did not specifically name the Police 110 app.

It’s an appealing concept for users, worried about their safety after two people were killed in the last four months while using Didi’s carpool service. Being able to video call the police would allow passengers to quickly show them the situation, send their current location -- or maybe even deter wrongdoers by showing them that the police are watching.

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The Police 110 app’s home page says “Reporting to the police is entering the era of live streaming.” But the app’s developers told us that the feature doesn’t actually work yet.