Security
Seattle U Adopts Panic Button, App To Improve Security
The 7,800-student Seattle
University is experimenting this
summer with a Bluetooth-enabled panic button in an effort to enhance the safety
of its
students.
The React
Sidekick is a personal emergency button that can
quickly and remotely activate an emergency alert with the challenge of
unlocking and dialing 911 from a phone. The React Sidekick, which is
paired
with a React Mobile safety app on mobile phones, can reach a fairly wide
network,
in this case including Seattle University campus security.
About 100 students who are living on campus during
the summer
session have been given the React Sidekick buttons and they will be
offered to
more students when the fall semester begins.
Occidental
College and the University
of Washington are also
offering the React Sidekick and safety app to it students.
At Seattle University, the React Sidekick
is one more safety
element along with blue light emergency phones on campus, escort patrols
and an
existing safety app.
"The React Mobile solution offers an additional layer
of
security that complements our current campus safety efforts," said
Seattle
University Public Safety and Transportation Executive Director Tim
Marron. "We
plan to phase out our current safety app in favor of React Mobile."
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.