The disclosure describes a crowd-sourced, social network and geo-location based system for enhancing personal safety via users' mobile devices. The system shares information (including images, video, and/or audio) about crimes, fires, accidents and public safety-related events and their geo-locations. Users selectively receive notifications for such events in a map view based on the events' proximity to users or on whether the notification was initiated by a person in the users' social network. The system also shares users' status and geo-location information with previously identified persons or with all persons in their social network to let them know their geo-location and/or when they have reached a destination. Through the system's operation, a user can cause sending of a distress signal to pre-identified persons, groups within their social network, or others who are within a pre-established distance. Additionally, the system can send a distress signal if the user fails to check in.