With the recent increase of crime in and around Columbia, USC students are beginning to question their safety. HerCampus South Carolina would love to see our student body take all actions to stay safe; so we have compiled a list of apps you must download. These apps are created for students like us that could use some reassurance while in a frightening or unfamiliar situation.
Circle of 6 is an application that allows you to create a contact list of six of your closest friends and family members by phone number. The app has preset messages that are sent to your six contacts with two touches of your phone when you are in an uncomfortable or threatening situation. By pressing the car icon, an SMS message will be ready to send that reads: “Come and get me. I need help getting home safely.” It will send a GPS location map of exactly where you are. The phone icon should be pressed when you need an interruption from an uncomfortable date, a suspicious conversation, or for any situation you need to leave. It will send a text to your six contacts, saying “Call and pretend you need me. I need an interruption.” There are also buttons that link you to information about healthy and unhealthy relationships, as well as a button that will immediately alert a national hotline and campus police when in serious danger.
Rave Guardian is an application much like that of Circle of 6. You create a contact list that you will be linked to if you are ever in danger. Once you create an active profile, you are given the option of pressing a panic button, a tip texting button, or a personal guardians button. The panic button is a “direct, immediate connection to campus safety with [your] GPS location and personal profile information.” The tip texting button “enables anonymous crime tip reporting and 2-way communication via SMS or mobile app,” and the personal guardians button allows students to identify friends, roommates, and family as “guardians” along with Campus Safety. Students are also able to set a Rave Guardian Timer, which allows Guardians and Campus Safety to check in on your status. If the Rave Guardian timer is not deactivated before it expires, campus safety is automatically provided with your Rave Guardian profile to proactively identify and check in on you.
SafeTrek is an application that does not require a contact list or a profile. It provides a button that you press and hold through the duration of your uncomfortable situation, whether it be walking home at night, getting your mail, or simply walking from the library to your car. You have ten seconds to enter your 4-digit pin after releasing the button or else police will be notified with your GPS location and your emergency.
Uber is a taxi service that has recently been brought to Columbia, South Carolina. It is run completely through a free smartphone application. All you need to do is create an account linked to a credit or debit card. When you need a taxi, you simply open the app and select “request Uber,” and someone is usually on their way within minutes. This service is convenient and is available at all times so that you never have to walk alone.
We tend to think we are invincible when it comes to serious danger, but the truth is it can happen to anyone. We hope you take our advice and download these apps to your phone, because danger can strike at any time. Travel in groups, call a taxi, and leave a party if you don’t feel comfortable. Always listen to your gut instinct and protect yourself at all times with the simplicity of smartphone applications.