Advancing Campus Safety: The Role of Mobile Apps for Campus Police

Keeping in Contact

Communication is a huge part of policing and the more information given to police and citizens the more everyone can remain safe. Traditional forms of communication such as radios, emails, and phone calls are still in place and are still valuable; however, an app provides a faster, more convenient means of contact. With a law enforcement application, campus police can alert students regarding a particular situation and likewise, the public can contact law enforcement through the app.

By using a campus safety app, students and faculty can report directly to campus police if they witness an incident. This expedites the process of contacting law enforcement which in turn can decrease response time. The faster law enforcement can respond to a call, the more trust and confidence the public will have in their local law enforcement.

The connection between police and the community is best built when both parties interact with one another, which is the basis of community policing. Recent studies have shown community policing is effective and has a positive impact on communities as well as public safety. In a school setting, community policing can be particularly impactful, helping maintain public safety and situational awareness.

Campus Policing

Over the last several years, more campus-related incidents have occurred including active shooting situations and homicides. Students and faculty alike should remain situationally aware at all times. Every major university has a police department of its own. Though effective, they are typically smaller departments which means patrol units have large areas to secure. With a Campus Police App, students can let police know directly if they see or hear anything suspicious. In addition, law enforcement can send out text alerts through the app to let everyone on campus know of potential danger.

The UCP Police app from StackBench is an excellent way to heighten campus security. An application is a platform used by everyone who owns a smartphone. Since apps are familiar territory, it is easy to implement this type of technology effectively in a campus police and security setting. In 2020, there was a study conducted that found there were over 21,000 criminal incidents reported in colleges and universities. This number is significant. An app can help combat crime in a college or university setting. A Campus Police App connects students and faculty to their campus police force, making a significant difference in public safety in this particular type of setting.

Campus policing focuses on the students, staff, and grounds of a particular academic property. This type of policing often thrives on community policing since interaction between police and students and staff is more common. For instance, a city police officer patrols a certain district of a metropolis or even an entire city. Due to the vastness of their jurisdiction, law enforcement officers may not interact with any citizens one day or only those at the calls they respond to. Police who patrol a school campus are much more likely to directly interact with the citizens they protect. Direct contact regularly with the public, especially in this particular setting, can be a positive experience for law enforcement and citizens. The better the rapport built between campus police and civilians, the more likely the public will approach police with information regarding an incident they saw or have information regarding. The UCP Police app enables the public to upload videos and photos directly to the police in real-time. In addition, each message can have GPS coordinates attached so campus police can find where the incident may be occurring quickly. The quicker the response time, the safer the outcome.

Implementing a campus safety app can also provide students and faculty with helpful resources including health and wellness and information regarding safety and remaining situationally aware. For example, the UCP Police app includes a customizable category for health, wellness, and additional beneficial resources for communities. Law enforcement agencies have the option to add webinars to the UCP app with information regarding wellness or police topics to educate the public.

Implementing a Campus Safety App

Utilizing a campus safety app is convenient and effective for all who use it. After all, the majority of society, especially students, are familiar and comfortable with an application. Providing the public they serve with this type of tool is economical for law enforcement agencies and free to the citizens they serve.

An application for security and safety puts a direct line to the police department in the palm of every user's hand. Often citizens may want to report an incident they saw or provide details about an incident police are looking for but may wish to remain anonymous. UCP Police allows citizens to report to the police without revealing their identity. This feature alone increases the use of the app since the public can contact the police without becoming directly involved.

Quicker response time is another advantage of a Campus Safety App. For instance, by going through the traditional forms of communication to police there are many channels to go through. An individual places a call to their campus police dispatch center in order to report an incident of concern. From there, the dispatcher lets law enforcement know about the situation including what type of incident, where it occurred, and any other imperative information the police officer should know about. Though this method is still highly effective, an app cuts down the time it takes for the information to get from the citizen to the police officer. The UCP Police App allows citizens to report an incident to the police by sending a message through the app. The app is customizable so that the department can set up the platform in a way that citizens can select what unit or division of the police department their message should go to. For instance, if a civilian witnesses a vehicle accident, they can send their message to the traffic division of a police agency. This way the intel is given directly to the unit in the department that would handle the call, and the information is coming directly from the eyewitness. Though dispatch, phone calls, and radios are still effective and integral to police work, direct communication through an app decreases misinformation and misunderstanding. Furthermore, the UCP Police App offers citizens the ability to upload videos and photos that can help with leads.

Community Policing on Campus

Over the last few years, community policing has steadily increased. Community policing refers to implementing information provided by the public to law enforcement to increase situational awareness and to patrol in areas of the city that need extra police presence due to recent criminal activity. It has proven effective when citizens and law enforcement officers interact more with the goal of public safety in mind. This does not mean the public needs to do the job of a police officer, nor does it mean law enforcement needs to rely on citizens to provide them with helpful information. Instead, community policing refers to when police are communicative and transparent with the public, in turn, citizens are more likely to contact police when they witness an incident.

In a campus setting, community policing can go a long way. When law enforcement builds rapport and trust with the students and faculty, it can instill a positive outlook on police in general. A university or college campus typically has fewer law enforcement officers on their force, which means those officers are going to interact with the small campus community often. The more trust built between students, faculty, and their campus police and security, the better the outcome for public safety overall.