Campus cops sing for safety

Feb. 5, 2016
University of Delaware Police rap to connect with students for safety by meeting them where they are – on smartphones

NEWARK, DE -- Feb. 5, 2016 -- Move over, Drake and the hit single “Hotline Bling.”  

Trending now: #CopLineBling with already more than 900,000 views, 12,000 likes and over 15,000 shares on Facebook.

The campus-cops-turned-rappers at the University of Delaware turn Drake’s hit on lost love and a missed phone call into a lighthearted reminder that students have multiple ways to connect to safety and security resources when they need help or see a dangerous situation. The video message conveys important information while using the “rap” video to directly connect with students. Throughout the song, UD Police takes viewers through the various options available to students to stay safe, secure and protected.   

One of the options includes a right-from-their-cell-phone app called LiveSafe which enables students to share a variety of real-time information with two-way communication directly to UD Police.

Through a new specially configured dashboard in the UD Police Command Center, officers can continuously monitor for students’ incoming GPS-enabled texts, and interact with students in real time. LiveSafe lets students “see something, say something” silently or anonymously. They can also share photos, video and audio files directly with officers in the command center.

 “Call us on your cell phone whenever you need our help,” the officers sing while the video shows a student using LiveSafe to request a police walking escort.  The technology has already allowed UD Police to quickly help a student suffering from alcohol poisoning, arrest a robbery suspect and get timely support to a student with a mental health emergency.

“The officers who ‘star’ in our video know you sometimes have to go the extra mile to capture the attention of students on our campus,” said Jason Pires, University of Delaware Police Captain. “The video gets out the word that we’re – really – here to help, while the LiveSafe technology increases and improves the information we receive, cuts our response time, and helps us keep the community safe.”

#CopLineBling also reminds students of traditional ways to reach police, like the “blue light” emergency phones located around campus.

“The UD Police video really demonstrates the spirit of our technology,” said Carolyn Parent, LiveSafe CEO, “We know students are more comfortable communicating on their phones. These tools and the fun CopLineBling video are breaking down barriers between campus security officials and the students they protect.”

Despite the lighthearted approach, LiveSafe has a serious mission and heritage; the firm’s co-founder is a survivor of the Virginia Tech shootings. Use of the crowdsourcing mobile safety platform has dramatically taken off in recent years as security officials like those at the University of Delaware see users are more apt and able to engage with them when they have a familiar way to do so right in their pocket. The LiveSafe platform today covers more than a million lives at over 100 campuses in 30 states, at Fortune 500 companies, healthcare facilities and at pro and college stadiums across the country.