Carrie Pinkard | The Crow’s Nest
By Lauryn Walker
USF St. Petersburg has a number of features on campus to keep its students safe.
About 50 emergency buttons located throughout the campus are one asset that students can utilize in times of need. The emergency buttons, also known as blue phones, are easy to find.
“It is easy to locate emergency buttons,” said Leanna Doolittle, a mass communications major. “They’re super bright, and I’ve noticed signs on buildings around campus saying ‘Emergency button located here.’”
“When I lived in RHO, I didn’t feel uncomfortable to walk outside at night.”
Some students said they’ve seen others press the blue button for various reasons, and each time, there was a quick response to the call.
Adrian Peres, a student at USF St. Petersburg, recalls one incident where a bicyclist crashed and “wasn’t looking too hot.”
“Some girl pressed the emergency button, and it got the cops out there quicker than 911,” he said on Facebook.
Doolittle recalls another situation, this time outside the Student Life Center.
“There was a verbal altercation, and a gun was drawn, but the UPD was there in about a split second after someone called them to tell them what was happening,” she said.
But the blue phones aren’t the university’s only way of promoting campus safety.
The USF Safe app is available on the App Store and Google Play. This app gives you the option to trigger a Mobile Bluelight to alert police that you need assistance.
Another useful setting is called “Friend Walk,” which sends your location to a friend who tracks you to your destination. There’s also a “Personal Safety Toolbox” within the app that has a flashlight, current weather report, annual security report, and the option to call 911 straight from the page.
The officers on campus are willing to escort students through campus, whether from building to building or to and from the parking garage. There are cameras in the parking garage as well, so if there’s ever an incident, the UPD officers are able to review the footage.
The University Police jurisdiction covers the entire campus and 1,000 feet beyond, which is about three to four blocks.
There is a Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) Training on Nov. 7 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Lynn Pippenger Hall Auditorium. The University Police Department is located at 530 Third St. S., and the department can be contacted by email at police@usfsp.edu or by phone at 727-873-4444.
