COLORADO SPRINGS — UCCS students and staff can now text campus police in emergencies. Dispatch will send back a link to share camera access so officers can survey the area if needed.
It's called Prepared911.
The UCCS campus police chief Diana Cooley said the texting and video features allow dispatch to track a user's location.
"That is completely on the user to give us consent to do that," said Cooley. "We're not going to tap into your phone, we don't have the capability of just turning on a camera."
The camera access option follows privacy restrictions that the FBI mandates, said the police communications manager Shantelle Zimmer.
"Prepared911 is up to date in all of that ensuring that nobody's sensitive information is getting out," said Zimmer.
Cooley said the livestream video is recorded and can be used as evidence.
Prepared911 can also translate languages in real-time through text.
"[Campus police are] trying to take initiatives to find ways to protect us better so like again, incidents like last year don't happen again," said UCCS senior Zach Schrim.
"Especially now that it's getting dark so early, parking garages stuff like that, you may not want to speak out loud if you're being followed or just kind of have an uneasy feeling," said UCCS junior Ryan Endicott.
Cooley says they are still spreading the word that Prepared911 exists. There have been ten incidents reported through text since the program launched on November 1st.
"It just makes me feel more comfortable on campus, just being able to have that extra sense of protection," said UCCS freshman Alex Williams.
"It's just important to feel safe not only at class but since I have to dorm," said UCCS freshman Reggie Nettles.
Cooley said calling is still preferred over texting because dispatch could get information faster than waiting for a text back.
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