About SafeWise

We empower people everywhere to build safe communities.

Our mission is to inspire people to embrace safety as a lifestyle, turn their homes into sanctuaries, and invest in their communities.


What we do

We believe that our homes—and the people (and pets) we share them with—are what really matter. Protecting the “where” and “who” in our lives gives us more time to enjoy it all. SafeWise streamlines it for you by putting reviews, videos, and articles in one place.

We contextualize national crime and safety trends to show how they affect you and your neighborhood. We use this knowledge to examine safety and security products and find out whether they’re worth your time. When we find flaws, gaps in coverage, or a practice that makes us raise our eyebrows, we let brands and consumers know.

Because honesty is good, but industry change is better.

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How we do it

We do more than conduct research—we test home security systems and smart devices in-house to report on the good, the bad, and the ugly. In fact, we’ve boiled down our many hours of testing into a methodology that we follow carefully.

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See who's talking about us

We’ve made quite a splash. This is just a sample of the publications that have reached out to us for our expertise.

SafeWise has been mentioned in the Washington Post, MSN, Huffpost, USA Today, Yahoo! News, realtor.com, Reader's Digest, Angie's List, CNBC, NPR, RealSimple, and Vice

SafeWise by the numbers

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12

Safety and security experts

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65+

Years of combined staff experience

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1MM

Visitors each month

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9MM

Products and services adopted (and counting!)

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3

Safety and security advisors

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96

Years of combined safety advisor expertise

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400K

Annual visitors to proprietary research reports and data

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655K

YouTube views—growing daily

Meet the team

Why we love our jobs 

At SafeWise, we help you make decisions you can feel good about. We make complex topics simple and offer practical advice for protecting your home and everyone in it. Our home security reviews promote real industry-wide changes that lead to products that benefit you. That’s why we love what we do.

Security Expert, Safety & Tech Reporter

Rebecca is the lead safety reporter and in-house expert for SafeWise.com. She has been a journalist and blogger for over 25 years, with a focus on home and community safety for the past eight. Rebecca spends dozens of hours every month poring over crime reports and spotting trends. Her safety expertise is sought after by publications, broadcast journalists, non-profit organizations, podcasts, and more.

You can find her expert advice and analysis in places like TechCrunch, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, NPR, HGTV, MSN, Reader's Digest, Real Simple, and an ever-growing library of radio and TV clips.

Kristina Smith

Kit Smith

Managing Editor

Kit oversees editorial production for SafeWise, aiming to provide everyone access to the safety resources they need. She holds a journalism degree and eight years of digital and print publishing experience.

Previously, she's worked in home improvement and lifestyle verticals—creating editorial strategies and coaching writers. She's also done freelance writing related to interior design, travel, real estate, and the arts.

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Editorial Lead, Safety & Security

For more than 20 years Alina has been contributing her tech and safety insights to CNET, CBS, Digital Trends, MTV, Top Ten Reviews, and many others. She specializes in smart home and security technology, working to make gadgets less mystifying one article at a time.

In the early 2000s, Alina worked as a volunteer firefighter, earning her first responder certification. Her activities aren’t nearly as dangerous today. Her hobbies include fixing up her house in the country, doing artsy stuff, and going to the lake with her family.

John Carlsen
Sr. Staff Writer, Security & Smart Home

John is a technology journalist specializing in smart home devices, security cameras, and home security systems. He has over nine years of experience researching, testing, and reviewing the latest tech—he was the Smart Home Editor for Top Ten Reviews and wrote for ASecureLife before joining SafeWise as a Staff Writer in 2020.

John holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications, Journalism emphasis from Utah Valley University. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, photography, cooking, and starting countless DIY projects he has yet to complete.

Staff Writer, Family Safety & Security

With over eight years of experience as a content writer, Cathy has a knack for untangling complex information. Her natural curiosity and ability to empathize help Cathy offer insightful, friendly advice. She believes in empowering readers who may not feel confident about a purchase, project, or topic.

Cathy earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Indiana University Southeast and began her professional writing career immediately after graduation. She is a certified Safe Sleep Ambassador and has contributed to sites like Safety.com, Reviews.com, Hunker, and Thumbtack. Cathy’s pride and joy is her Appaloosa “Chacos.” She also likes to crochet while watching stand-up comedy specials on Netflix.

Krystal Rogers-Nelson

Krystal Rogers-Nelson

Sr. Content Strategist

With 14 years of managing education programs in the nonprofit industry, Krystal has an empathetic heart, a creative eye, and a strategic mind. As a mother of two, Krystal is obsessed with learning about all things safety and cares deeply about sharing the latest products and research to help you protect what you care about most.

Her knowledge and experience translate into publishing useful content that’s easy for all learning styles to navigate and understand.

Katherine McEntire
YouTube Lead, Safety & Security

Katie McEntire is our team's video lead and spends a lot of her time testing the products she features on our YouTube channel, Facebook, and TikTok. (Go ahead, check us out!) She's been with SafeWise since 2019 and covers everything home security, safety, and smart home. You can check out her work on YouTube in our Ask SafeWise series and a number of camera and home security video reviews. 

Katie has worked with publications like AARP, TechGuySmartBuy, Forbes, Healthy Moms, and Digital Care. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Technical Writing from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. She’s held previous writing positions at Overstock.com and Top Ten Reviews.

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Kasey Tross

Contributing Writer

Kasey is a trained Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member and a freelance writer with expertise in emergency preparedness and security. As the mother of four kids, including two teens, Kasey knows the safety concerns parents face as they raise tech-savvy kids in a connected world, and she loves to research the latest security options for her own family and for SafeWise readers.

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Erin Mann

Data Analyst

Erin is a data storyteller who specializes in sifting through, organizing, and analyzing complex data sets. Her interest in translating data into meaningful stories began during her time at the University of Oregon where her research on creating ethical and effective data visualizations was published in a book on data journalism. In her four years in the field, Erin has demonstrated passion for clearly communicating data insights in order to help people make informed decisions.

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Andréa Harvey

Digital PR Specialist

Andréa is passionate about community advocacy. Before joining our team in 2018, she studied journalism at the University of Oregon and worked at local newspapers like Salt Lake City Weekly and the Ogden Standard-Examiner. As a digital PR specialist, she helps SafeWise reach new communities nationwide with data-driven safety campaigns and educational resources.

Andrew Hull

Digital PR Specialist

With over 5 years of mass communication experience and community activism under his belt, Andrew leans on those passions to deliver crucial safety resources and enlightening crime reports to all corners of the country.

He spent years as a broadcast journalist at KSL NewsRadio in Salt Lake City and now uses his newsroom experience to help bring SafeWise's expertise to the communities that need it.

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Celeste Tholen

Contributing Writer

Celeste has dedicated her decade-long career to reporting and reviews that help people make well-informed decisions. She oversees editorial strategy and production for SafeWise, with a goal to help everyone find the information they need to make their homes and lives safer.

Prior to SafeWise, she worked as an editor and reporter for KSL and Deseret News. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism. In her free time, she volunteers at the local botanical garden and writes for the community newspaper.

Katherine Torres

Katherine Torres

Contributing Writer

Katherine has several years of experience developing and executing multichannel marketing campaigns, but actually started her career path in journalism. Though she switched gears, she continues to be driven by the need to deliver information that can be helpful for individuals. As an owner of two rescue dogs, she is most interested in technology and products that allow her to keep a close eye on her pets when she’s away.

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Kaz Weida

Contributing Writer

Kaz is a journalist who covers home security, parenting, and community and child safety. Her work and product testing in the security and safety field spans the past four years. You can find Kaz in HuffPost, SheKnows, Lifehack, and much more. Her degree in education and her background as a teacher and a parent make her uniquely suited to offer practical advice on creating safe environments for your family.

Safety advisors

SafeWise’s advisory group provides a critical link between our in-house experts and the broader field of community and home safety. These safety, security, and healthcare experts help us bring you first-rate information about how to protect your home and family.

Sally Russell

Sally Russell

MN, CMSRN, CNE, Health Expert and Educator

Sally has been a nursing professional for over 35 years. She began her career working in various clinical areas, particularly medical-surgical, and has presented nationally on almost any medical-surgical topic, including a medical-surgical certification review course. She’s taught in diploma, associate, and baccalaureate nursing programs and has served as a baccalaureate nursing program director.

Sally also has over 15 years of working in the continuing education arena, serving as the education director of the American Nephrology Nurses Association and is responsible for all of the education that is planned and implemented by ANNA.

Pete Canavan

Pete Canavan

IT Security and Personal Safety Expert

As an author, host of the Safety Talk radio show, and personal safety expert, Pete has made it his mission to shore up people’s safety. His extensive experience over the last 20 years as an IT security consultant, self-defense instructor, and public safety professional allows him to provide practical, actionable solutions to threats that exist in both the digital and physical worlds.

In addition to writing a book about self-defense, he's been quoted and written about in major publications including the New York Post, Washington Post, and USA Today.

Ben Stickle

Ben Stickle

PhD, Criminal Justice and Theft Expert

Dr. Ben Stickle holds a doctor of Philosophy in Justice Administration from the University of Louisville. His research interests include policing and property crime (metal theft, burglary, and package theft) with a theoretical focus on crime prevention, environmental crime, rational choice, and ethnography.

Ben has published in peer-reviewed journals on these and other topics and is the author of Metal Scrappers and Thieves: Scavenging for Survival and Profit. His work has been featured on the New York Times, Good Morning America, Reader's Digest, NBC, and more. In addition to his academic work, Ben has over 20 years of practical experience in law enforcement.

Contact us

Don’t be shy—ask us about home security, smart home devices, or personal safety.


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