Eastern Connecticut State University is enhancing safety precautions on campus with a mobile phone app known as LiveSafe. Designed to connect community members and their local public safety officers, the app allows for a number of functions including an option to report safety concerns, a GPS tracking system for walks across campus and a 911 feature.

Brought to the Connecticut Colleges and Universities system in 2019, LiveSafe was introduced to provide a modern and efficient communication option to connect college students, staff and faculty with University police departments. “The LiveSafe App is a tool that increases community safety and provides assurance that one communicates safety concerns with university police from their own cell phone if needed,” explained Eastern’s Chief of Police Stephen Tavares.

Reports and safety concerns can be communicated on the app via text, video and audio, enabling it to meet a diverse range of needs. While there is a 911 feature on the app, Tavares warned that it should not replace the traditional 911 phone call, however, “in an emergency situation where you can’t call 911 for whatever reason, you can communicate your emergency via the LiveSafe App,” said Tavares.

Since its introduction during the Spring 2019 semester, Eastern’s LiveSafe community includes approximately 2,300 users. “We have a continual campaign to encourage all Eastern community members to download the LiveSafe App,” said Tavares. “The more people with LiveSafe, the safer we are as a community.”

The LiveSafe app is free to download. Used in conjunction with Eastern Alert, students, faculty and staff will receive alerts regarding safety concerns of any nature as soon as possible. “It is in the best interest of community safety,” said Tavares. “Eastern Alert enables community members to receive important messages from the university and LiveSafe provides levels of personal safety and assists the university police department in protecting you.”

To ease the concerns over privacy and security, Tavares assures students that LiveSafe is not utilized as a data collection tool and the app does not track students' movements or cellular activity. For more information, visit Eastern’s LiveSafe website.