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Millersville University is the first university in Pennsylvania to adopt the campus safety application known as LiveSafe.
“We looked at a number of apps that use technology to increase the awareness and safety of our students,” said University president, Dr. John Anderson. “We chose LiveSafe because of its sophisticated technology – we believe it will have a significant impact on our students.”
“It was largely a student based initiative to bring the app to campus,” said Randi Chrismer, Student Senate President. “Senate saw this as the right choice from our students. It is something that students really want.”
LiveSafe is high-tech, mobile safety tool that can be downloaded on smartphones. The app can be used in a number of different ways including to submit tips and information about unusual activity; it also allows the user’s friends or family to virtually “walk” them to their destination; it will alert safety officials of mental health concerns or a sexual assault and it can track a person’s location during an emergency.
Students using the app can choose whether or not they want to be anonymous and they have the option to add a photo or video when submitting tips and information about suspicious activity.
“We have a very safe campus at Millersville, but we’re always looking at additional tools our students will use to ensure their and others’ safety,” said University police chief, Peter Anders. “We have emergency blue light phones, patrol officers on bikes, the University Police operate a late-night escort service and now we are the first in Pennsylvania to have the LiveSafe app.”
LiveSafe is free for all students as well as for their parents, faculty and staff. It is available for download now from both Google Play and iTunes store. Millersville’s official launch date for the app is July 1, 2015, which is when the University police will begin using the live monitor for tips.
“It’s a great way for our students to look out for one another and to communicate with officers about something that concerns them,” said Anders. “Students really liked the peer to peer GPS SafeWalk feature, and felt the ‘text a tip/start a chat’ was something they would do over phoning the tip in to police.”
LiveSafe was funded by Student Senate and Millersville’s Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.
Additional information on LiveSafe can be found at http://www.livesafemobile.com/.
