After an ongoing domestic dispute involving guns, the situation culminated one fateful night in the summer of 2009 when I was home alone. As I shut off the lights and got into bed, the motion light turned on and I could hear footsteps coming up the stairs to the back of the house. Within seconds, I could see a man’s shadow through the drawn blind and he was looking into my bedroom window!
Uncertain if the stranger was armed or the nature of his intent, I instinctively set off my home security alarm and frantically called 911. I fearfully waited in my room with the doors locked, huddled between my dresser and the bed until the police arrived. Fortunately, the alarm signal must have scared off the intruder as he was nowhere to be found when police finally arrived. This event forever changed my life, and created within me a need to always feel safe and protected.
In the days and months that followed, I subconsciously began observing various vulnerable situations people can find themselves in, especially women and children. Every place I looked, I was envisioning potential danger. It dawned on me that in many emergency situations, a mobile phone is not always accessible or usable. If ambushed or assaulted, how does a person get help without the predator knowing? How can someone let authorities know where a person is located and get help? People have home security, but society needs the same kind of security when away from home. It was then I sparked the idea of a personal security device that is small, discreet, easy to use without restrictions, with GPS tracking, and has a panic button for silently alerting authorities when a person is in danger. My personal harrowing experience brought about the development of GO-P.A.L.
Go-P.A.L is a personal security device with multiple functions and is designed with men, woman, children and the elderly in mind. It is my desire that GO-P.A.L will be used by women to prevent being victimized by rape and sexual assault and by any women who are victims of domestic violence. I envision this device to help protect children from being abducted and the elderly in need medical assistance.