The UI Department of Public Safety insists the RAVE Guardian app still has advantages over normal cellphone functions when it comes to safety.
By Kayli Reese
University of Iowa Department of Public Safety encourages students and faculty to use the Rave Guardian app to report crime and promote personal safety.
The app, which has been up and running since October 2016, allows users to directly contact the UI police, give another person tracking access to her or his location as a virtual guardian, and send crime tips to UI police. UI students, faculty, and staff can connect with the police via the app.
Floyd Johnson, the emergency-management coordinator for the department, said the app so far has had a little more than 1,000 downloads since its launch four months ago, but the app is still a very young component of the department.
The department promotes use of the app, he said. For example, he said the app is featured in the department’s Violent Incident Survival Training class, and more Rave Guardian downloads are completed after every class. As the department continues to educate the public about the app, he said, use increases.
Johnson said using the app in cases of emergency is much better than relying solely on a service phone. Currently in Iowa, he said, citizens cannot send a text to the police.
In addition to this, during emergency situations, he said, phone lines may be inaccessible, rendering cell service unavailable or delaying any messages trying to be sent. By using the app, he said, a message could be quickly sent straight to officers in the event of an emergency.
“[The app] is more reliable than phone lines themselves,” Johnson said.
However, UI freshman Nicole Liljestrand said she would most likely still rely on her normal phone functions when it comes to safety because for her, calling the police in cases of emergency would be her natural instinct. Also, she said instead of using the guardian feature on the app, she already shares her location with her friends through the Find Friends feature already installed on her iPhone.
“My phone does everything the app can do already without taking up any extra storage on my phone,” she said.
UI freshman Roman Starkey said he also would rather use traditional phone functions than the app. The most appealing part of the app, he said, is the direct link to the UI police when dialing 911, but he does not think the app adds any incentive to download it over using his phone as it is.
“I’ve never felt a need for anything extra on my phone,” he said. “I don’t think there would be a situation where my phone couldn’t help in an emergency.”
Johnson, though, said the app does speed up the process for understanding emergency situations. For example, he said, if a person calls 911, it goes to the Johnson County dispatch before being rerouted to the UI police. With the Rave Guardian app, he said people have a direct link to police.
Also, he said, users can opt to share their information with officers, so they have access to a person’s profiles on the app if the person is in an emergency. This can save critical minutes by allowing officers to bypass the steps of asking questions over the phone.
Johnson said the tip feature of the app is also helpful, allowing anyone to anonymously send information to police in a way that may make him or her feel more comfortable than calling the department to send a tip.
Rave Guardian is just one way the UI police can better connect with the community, he said.
“Public safety must be a community approach and get everyone involved. One way to do that is giving a tool to people that they feel comfortable using,” Johnson said. “The app is like a Blue Cap in your pocket, but better.”
