Vitals is one of Minne Inno’s 2019 Inno on Fire award winners. Learn more about the other honorees here.
Vitals Aware Services, a local startup creating an app to prevent situations between vulnerable people and first responders from escalating, announced today that it has named former Minneapolis police chief Janeé Harteau as its CEO.
Harteau takes the top job after serving as Vitals' president since fall 2018 and its chief public safety officer since October 2017. Prior to joining the company, she served as chief of police for Minneapolis and had a 30-year career in law enforcement. Harteau will also join Vitals' board of directors.
"I'm honored by the decision of the board and appreciate the opportunity to lead such a visionary company," Harteau said in a statement. "Our priority is to make this life-changing and life-saving technology accessible to everyone."
Harteau will replace Vitals founder Steve Mase as CEO. Mase will become the company's chief technology officer.
The Vitals App was created in partnership with the Autism Society of Minnesota. The app bridges the information gap between first responders and people with mental illnesses or disabilities by communicating critical information at the moment it’s needed.
Individuals can sign up for free and create profiles with as much detail as they want. A first responder subscribed to the app (they pay $9.95 per officer) will receive an alert whenever they get within 80 feet of someone registered on the app. Armed with information, they can take the right action.
Harteau stepped down from her position as chief after the killing of Justine Ruszczyk by officer Mohamed Noor in 2017. At the time, she told MPR that she was blindsided by the request of then-Mayor Betsy Hodges to resign, and didn't initially realize the depth of anger ignited by the shooting, or the political fallout to come.
In a release Thursday, Harteau said that one of her focuses as Vitals CEO will be executing the company's national rollout. Vitals is currently used by around 60 first responder agencies in Minnesota, including St. Paul, Hennepin County and the University of Minnesota's campus police.
