UTSA recently launched SafeZone, a free mobile app that was announced on Jan. 29 by the school’s public safety department through the business affairs’’ YouTube channel. In the video, UTSA’s Chief of Police Stephanie Schoenborn encourages the community to download the app, emphasizing how accessible emergency services are with “Fast and easy access to UTSAPD.”
The UTSA public safety website states, “SafeZone helps you stay connected and safe at UTSA by offering on-demand access to emergency services and UTSAPD at the touch of a button.”
One of the app’s features is an emergency button that either connects users to UTSAPD or calls 911. The app also includes non-emergency communication, a confidential mental health crisis line, emergency alerts, UTSAPD report-making and location privacy.
When making police reports on the app, users can file anonymously with the option to share the location of the incident and attach photos to the report. The privacy feature turns location-sharing on and off.
“The free safety app offers instant access to emergency dispatchers and responders, accurately pinpointing and sharing your location when help is needed. Your device’s GPS is only activated when you initiate an alert, and location sharing automatically ends once the alert is canceled, ensuring privacy,” stated the UTSA Public Safety website.
“In the event of an emergency or non-emergency incident on campus, app users can quickly raise an alert to UTSAPD,” UTSA Today shared. “Once an alert has been raised, the device’s location is shared with UTSAPD, and the app can be used to call UTSAPD or communicate with them via two-way messaging.”
SafeZone can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play. UTSA’s former safety app, LiveSafe, is no longer available.