There’s finally a way to snag a man in uniform before Valentine’s Day.
First responders and other public employees now have their own dating app to help them find a partner who truly understands the demands and unpredictability of a public-service job.
Secure, designed exclusively for public servants — from cops, firefighters and TSA agents to doctors, nurses and 911 dispatchers — launched in August and already has close to 1,000 users.
The Post spoke to two who have already met matches.
Queens nurse Ashley Anu is dating a police officer she met through the app — and said it was refreshing to be with someone who understands how she feels after a 12-hour shift.
“For me, as a nurse, you come home and you’re really emotionally and mentally drained. You don’t want someone who expects you to be all happy and dandy, because that’s not reality,” Anu told The Post.
“And it was hard to develop that with anyone else in the outside world.”
Before she found her man in blue, she went on two Secure dates — with an EMT and an MTA subway employee.
“So with the police officer, and the other ones too, they understood I’m not always going to be on my phone. I’m not always going to be down for a date,” she added.
MTA bus driver Wayz Lal of Queens is happily dating a nurse he met through Secure, so put the brakes on the app.
“Yeah, I actually don’t have the app anymore, because I met someone and it got pretty serious,” said Lal, 26.
The couple has already coordinated their crazy work schedules.
“Our schedules kind of landed around the same time to pick, so we got the same days off,” he explained.
Lal, who had been on Tinder and Bumble, said the women he met on those apps couldn’t comprehend that he was unable to text them back during his 8 a.m. to 8:40 p.m. shifts.
“As a bus driver, there are times I would go four, five, six hours even and I wouldn’t even look at my phone, and the girls would always assume I was talking to someone else. But with the few ladies I met off of Secure, they understood because they worked the same amount,” said Lal, who had dates with a teacher and a cop before the RN stole his heart.
Secure was founded by two first responders from Queens — Lee Yokomee and her then-colleague Terrance McCall — who got the idea in 2022, after COVID made it difficult to date.
Yokomee joined Hinge after her long term relationship ended and was discussing her discontent with it to McCall.
“It just felt very superficial,” Yokomee, 33, told The Post.
“So I joked around and said, ‘I would love to find me a hot firefighter,’ and we just ran from there.”
The duo wanted to offer users the opportunity to date someone who also has an unpredictable work schedule, as well as a profession that can also take its toll emotionally.
“Someone that understands that if I don’t answer my phone right away, I’m not out cheating. I’m literally just on shift and my phone is in my pocket,” she explained.
“First responders and public servants, we go through a flood of emotions through one eight-hour shift. It’s a lot.”
The founders stayed away from the “superficial and repetitive” swiping model used by dating apps like Tinder and Bumble, and opted for one that resembles an Instagram feed — and before they even launched, they had 400 people on their waiting list.
To ensure safety and eliminate catfishing, prospective users must upload a government-issued ID, a valid work ID and a live selfie, which are all verified by the ID verification platform Plaid, used by brands like American Express and Venmo.
“We have eliminated about 300 to 400,” said Yokomee.
“From incomplete signups, to people trying to weasel their way in with false documents.”
“It’s nice to hear that it’s working,” said Yokomee of the app, which is free for now, but will eventually offer a paid subscription plan.
“We’re changing lives in the way I always hoped, both on and off duty.”