User-centric event reporting

A method for providing information regarding an observed event, comprising:

• (a) receiving from a mobile data processing device, computer readable data comprising information corresponding to an event visually observed by a user of the mobile data processing device, wherein said data includes a type of event, and includes a location of the event based on the location of the mobile data processing device, and wherein the type of event is selected from a constrained set of event types;
• (b) displaying on a display device a warning based on the received computer readable data;
• and
• (c) receiving from the mobile data processing device, computer readable data comprising secondary information corresponding to the type of event, wherein a type of the secondary information is determined by looking up the type of event in a database.

A handheld data processing device, comprising:

• a transceiver for sending and receiving data to and from a wireless data communication network;
• a display screen;
• a processor for executing computer readable instructions stored in a memory of the handheld data processing device;
• said memory storing the computer executable instructions, said computer executable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the device to perform an event reporting method comprising steps of:
• (a) determining a present location of the handheld data processing device;
• (b) displaying on the display screen a geographic map oriented on the present location of the handheld data processing device;
• (c) displaying a list of a plurality of event categories and receiving user input selecting one of the plurality of categories;
• (d) receiving user input selecting an event type in the selected category;
• (e) receiving input identifying a location of an event corresponding to the selected event type based on the present location of the handheld data processing device;
• (f) sending via the transceiver data corresponding to the event and identified location;
• and
• (g) receiving confirmation that the data corresponding to the event and identified location were successfully received by an intended recipient;
• (h) determining a type of secondary information associated with the selected event type by looking up the selected event type in a database stored in said memory;
• and
• (i) wirelessly transmitting secondary data corresponding to the determined type of secondary information.