About

Critical Reach: Building a Safer World for Every Child and Community

For over 30 years, Critical Reach has been a trusted nonprofit partner to law enforcement, dedicated to one urgent mission: building safer communities through seamless communication. Born from a tragedy that shook the nation—the abduction and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas—our organization was founded on the belief that better information sharing can save lives. Today, we are expanding that mission to protect our most vulnerable spaces, ensuring that every child at school and every family in their community is safe from violence.

A History of Trust and Innovation
In 1993, the heartbreaking loss of Polly Klaas revealed a critical gap in how law enforcement agencies shared information across jurisdictions. In response, Critical Reach developed APBnet, a pioneering digital alert system. For three decades, APBnet has been an indispensable tool for over 1,500 police agencies, enabling officers to create and distribute photo-based alerts in minutes. This technology has helped recover missing children, solve countless crimes, and capture dangerous suspects, protecting over 50 million citizens annually.

Our longevity is built on trust. We are not a venture-backed startup seeking profit; we are a mission-driven nonprofit committed to public safety. This dedication has earned us unparalleled credibility with law enforcement, making us uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between first responders and the communities they serve.

Learn Secure™
Today, our schools face an unprecedented crisis of violence. We believe no child’s safety should depend on a district’s budget. That is why we developed Learn Secure™, a comprehensive school safety platform provided to schools at no cost.  It empowers schools with a direct, silent alert to police that bypasses 911 delays, getting cars to the scene faster. It opens a real-time, two-way communication channel between school staff and first responders, providing officers with live intelligence and critical site data like maps and access codes. By removing financial barriers, Learn Secure™ ensures equitable protection for every school.

Community Secure™
Violence does not stop at the schoolyard gate. Community Secure™ extends our life-saving technology to community gathering spaces, including places of worship, hospitals, retail centers, and corporate campuses. Powered by APB Direct Connect™, this system links these community sites directly to local law enforcement.

APB Direct Connect™ links to Learn Secure™ and Community Secure™ to provide responding officers with crucial situational awareness—such as the location of an intruder or the status of a lockdown—directly on their mobile devices and patrol car computers. This unified approach creates community-wide crisis readiness, ensuring that whether you are at school, at your place of worship, or shopping, you are protected by a single, standardized crisis response platform.

Join Us in Saving Lives
At Critical Reach, we choose hope over despair and action over paralysis. We are building a future where parents do not fear sending their children to school and where communities can gather in peace. Together, we can make a safer school for every child and a safer world for all.