Anyone with a University email address and smartphone can download a safety app that creates a virtual safety net of friends, family and University Police.
The Student Government Association began offering the customized version of the Rave Guardian Campus Safety App earlier this year.
Heres how it works:
A user downloads the web-based app onto his or her smartphone and creates a profile that includes pertinent personal information, such as his name, address, any medical conditions and ID photo. He can also create a list of guardians who would be notified under certain circumstances. The guardian must also have the app on his smartphone. A generic version is free and can be used with any email address.
Say youre going out on a date with a guy for the first time. You want to let someone know who you are going out with, where you are going, and what time you expect to be back, said University Police Capt. Charles Gisclair.
You would use the app to record that information. Suppose you plan to be home by midnight. If you dont deactivate the timer by 12 oclock, the app will automatically notify the designated guardian.
The first thing the guardian would do would be to call you to see if youre okay. If you cant be reached, the app enables the guardian to immediately notify University Police that youre not back home yet. That notification can be sent regardless of whether you designated University Police as a guardian.
The University Police dispatcher on campus receives the notification. Because this is web-based software, we can also receive the notification in our patrol units, where we have wi-fi access, Gisclair continued.
The only time University Police would have access to the users personal profile would be when the notification is activated. It gives us the users info. And, as long as the users smartphone GPS is operating, the app will ping that phone and show us where its located.
Officers can then investigate the situation to determine if the user is in trouble. Theres a feature that minimizes the number of notifications that might be sent because the user simply forgets to deactivate the timer when he reaches his intended destination.
Use of the app isnt limited to campus. It works across the United States but not in other countries.
The Rave Guardian app can be downloaded from the Apple Store. During registration, the user is able to indicate whether he is affiliated with a university.