Anyone with a 杏吧专区 email address and smartphone can download a safety app that creates a virtual safety net of friends, family and 杏吧专区 Police.
The Student Government Association began offering the customized version of the Rave Guardian Campus Safety App earlier this year.
Here杏吧专区檚 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 杏吧专区済uardians杏吧专区 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.
杏吧专区淪ay you杏吧专区檙e 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,杏吧专区 said 杏吧专区 Police Capt. Charles Gisclair.
杏吧专区淵ou would use the app to record that information. Suppose you plan to be home by midnight. If you don杏吧专区檛 deactivate the timer by 12 o杏吧专区檆lock, the app will automatically notify the designated guardian.
杏吧专区淭he first thing the guardian would do would be to call you to see if you杏吧专区檙e okay. If you can杏吧专区檛 be reached, the app enables the guardian to immediately notify 杏吧专区 Police that you杏吧专区檙e not back home yet. That notification can be sent regardless of whether you designated 杏吧专区 Police as a guardian.杏吧专区
The 杏吧专区 Police dispatcher on campus receives the notification. 杏吧专区淏ecause this is web-based software, we can also receive the notification in our patrol units, where we have wi-fi access,杏吧专区 Gisclair continued.
杏吧专区淭he only time 杏吧专区 Police would have access to the user杏吧专区檚 personal profile would be when the notification is activated. It gives us the user杏吧专区檚 info. And, as long as the user杏吧专区檚 smartphone GPS is operating, the app will ping that phone and show us where it杏吧专区檚 located.杏吧专区
Officers can then investigate the situation to determine if the user is in trouble. There杏吧专区檚 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 isn杏吧专区檛 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.