The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

Loading Recent Classifieds...

A New Innovation in Safety

Bucks encourages students to download the free safety and security app, LiveSafe, to utilizes features such as reporting anonymous tips, calling campus security and having a virtual safety companion.

Dennis McCauley, executive director of Security and Safety at Bucks, said the Livesafe app is a valuable tool for everyone on campus.

“It’s not just for students; it’s for faculty, it’s for employees; anybody can use it. There are a lot of informational resources,” said McCauley. “For example, under emergency procedures you could look up what to do in an active shooter situation.”

The app contains four main sections: emergency options, safety map, resources and report tips.

“It’s almost like a handy reference guide in your phone”, explained McCauley.

The emergency options section contains shortcuts that enable students to either call 911 or call/message campus security quickly and discreetly.

The safety map section contains a campus map with pins on landmarks, buildings, safety places, Livesafe reports and much more.

The resources section contains information on many services around campus including counseling, evening shuttle information, emergency procedures and campus alert information.

The report tips section is for reporting suspicious activity on campus.

“One of the cooler features of LiveSafe is the ability to report tips. They get it automatically right here at our dispatch center,” McCauley said.

Students can either show their full name, or send the tip in anonymously.

“About two weeks ago, a student was over in Gateway and there was an event there that evening,” said McCauley. “One person was fiddling with a doorknob and a student thought that looked suspicious, so the person texted us and we got their text and sent an officer over. The officer learned that it was one of the people setting up for the music event and it was ok, so we sent a text back to that person.”

The tips section of the app also allows students to send a picture or video along with the tip to security to show the suspicious activity. Livesafe offers access to a two-way chat with security so that students can communicate discreetly, allowing security to gather more intel.

Another feature allows students to track their friends as they walk through campus, or ask their friends to watch them walk for safety purposes.

Students can request virtual companions to watch them walk and track them step-by-step until they arrive at their destination safely.

Although the app contains several tools, majority of students may not be aware of it.

“We have over 700 downloads of it,” says McCauley. “Frankly, I’d like to see more students download and use it. It’s a valuable tool.”

The app contains the answers to various questions about security, campus resources and enables students to gain access to extensive safety features.

“It’s a nice safety option for students and it’s free,” McCauley says.

LiveSafe is easily accessible on iOS and Android devices for students to download.

For more information, students can visit livesafemobile.com.