Protecting others has always been at the foundation of retired Kankakee Police Detective Sgt. Peter Nicholos’ life.

Whether on the job or off of it, the mind of the former officer, who spent 25 years in law enforcement – including 14 years as an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives – rarely strays from protecting others.

And even though he stepped away from the full-time law enforcement since his 2021 retirement, he has truly never been far away.

He is now part of a two-person team who have founded a mobile safety app, AEGIS, which was recently launched and is available for purchase in app stores or aegisapp.io.

AEGIS is derived from ancient Greece. It means shield or protection. Nicholos is Greek.

Nicholos, of Limestone, along with AEGIS co-founder, Tamika Vantifflin, of Chicago, are offering protection which can be at the fingertips of nearly every man, woman and child through their app, which can be simply installed on a cell phone.

“It’s a device that will speak for people when they cannot speak for themselves,” Vantifflin explained.

Simply put, when activated in a smartphone, the AEGIS app can contact either family, friends or local police by the user pressing the needed option.

The person who believes they are in some type of danger or, at least in a stressful situation, or suffering an emergency medical problem does not need to speak into the phone which could alert more aggressive or immediate action from the person posing a threat.

If suffering a medical problem, the user may not be capable of speaking or providing clear, accurate information as to their location.

Attack sparked developdent

The concept for the emergency app was born from a situation in which a sister of Vantifflin suffered a stress-induced seizure while walking home a few years ago.

When she eventually regained consciousness, she was being sexually assaulted. Immediately following the attack, she was unable to verbalize to a 911 dispatcher what had happened.

Having known Nicholos since 2017 through police work in Chicago and then through his help with fitness training at Gold Star Gym in Bradley for beauty pageant competition, her story took root with him.

The pair began to explore what people need in these vulnerable and stressful situations. They met with numerous industries and businesses to learn their views on safety and what its needed to help provide it.

The pair quickly learned that even while being savvy with technology, they were far from being able to develop an app on their own.

They also learned another harsh lesson: App development can be costly. Very costly.

Through numerous months of developing their concept, they also hit the road and participated in numerous business competitions across the United States.

New to the world of such competitive programs, they continued to refine their pitch in these platforms and also were able to gain investments from those within these industries.

Personal safety big biz

Personal safety is big business. Very big. Published reports note by 2030, the personal protection equipment could be as large as $13.1 billion. The app portion of that market could annually be as much as $1.5 billion, according to Dimension Market Research.

“This is not about trying to replace 911, but upgrade it,” Nicholos said.

A business competition in January 2023 netted them a first-place award and a $100,000 investment.

“I am great at talking,” Vantifflin said as a sly smile crossed her face. Nicholos nodded in agreement as he noted she rarely is at a loss of words.

These two entrepreneurs have raised some $200,000 in the past 30 months through investments and business competitions. They continue to pound the pavement in search of investors.

The app went live on July 7. More than 400 downloads have been sold at a $4.99 monthly charge. They are encouraged by these early sales because there has been virtually no advertising campaign to date.

The advertising campaign could best be described as word of mouth.

“We want to get people familiar with the app,” Vantifflin said. “Safety is a right, it’s not a privilege.”

These types of apps are now becoming more common as part of benefits companies offer to employees. Personal safety is moving to the top of benefits packages.

Nicholos, now in executive protection through Chicago-based American Strategic Consulting, said he has been spreading the word through his executive protection work.

“This is about empowering our users, about keeping people safe,” Vantifflin said. “People don’t think about safety. They only think about it when something happens to them or someone they know.”

Said Nicholos: “We don’t want people to be reactive, but proactive. I tell people ‘Don’t be scared, but prepared.’”