To further the commitment to keeping campus safe, K-State released a new mobile phone application, LiveSafe, to enhance campus communication and safety services. The new app allows students, faculty and staff to consult emergency resources and to anonymously text K-State police.
Kansas State University is introducing a safety app for smartphones called LiveSafe.
LiveSafe enables smartphone users to anonymously send text, photo and video tips to campus police at the Manhattan and Salina campuses; have friends and family monitor their walks using GPS; find campus safety procedures and resources; and more.
LiveSafe is free and can be downloaded on any iPhone and Android-based device through iTunes or Google Play. The app is available to students, faculty, staff, campus visitors, parents and community members.
“The LiveSafe app is an added security and safety feature for the K-State family,” said Lindsey Elliott, crisis communications specialist in the Division of Communications and Marketing. “It complements K-State’s current safety measures and provides students with a new, effective way to look out for themselves and their friends. LiveSafe improves the communication efficiency between the campus community and K-State police.
Use of the app at the university is a collaborative effort by the vice president for student life, the Office of Student Life, K-State Police Department and other campus safety concerns and the Student Governing Association.
Features in the LiveSafe app include:
• Texts, photos and video tips can be anonymously sent to campus police. Police can anonymously chat with tipsters in the text window to collect more information.
• A “virtual escort” feature called SafeWalk that enables users to invite friends or family members to look out for them while moving from one location to another. Once notified, a guardian can monitor the app user’s walk on a map in real time using the GPS on the user’s smartphone. Users and guardians also can text each other in the map screen.
• An emergency dialer that can call 911.
• The ability to directly call other safety resources such as the university’s SafeRide and the Office of Student Life.
• A GPS-driven safety map shows users crimes that have been reported in their area as well as shelters and safe spots.
• An easy-to-navigate directory that includes information for emergency procedures such as how to respond to an active shooter; snow, tornadoes and severe weather; and campus resources such Counseling Services and the Center for Advocacy Response and Education, or CARE.
LiveSafe is meant to replace SafeTrek, an app introduced to campus in spring 2014. LiveSafe was chosen because of its multiple safety features and is customized for the K-State family.
LiveSafe is available for download now, and demonstrations of the app will be conducted around campus.