Santa Fe College releases campus safety app modeled after UF’s

Throughout the week, Santa Fe College students will be able to learn more about a free new campus app during the college’s Safe Santa Fe Days.

It is the first Fall semester students will be able to use Safe Santa Fe, an app that allows students to signal emergency, contact 911 and get information about buses, weather and emergencies. The app is modeled after the Gator Safe app at UF.

“We’ve been looking at it for two or three years, but within the last year we knew that UF was also moving towards a mobile campus safety app,” said Ed Book, the Santa Fe chief of police. “We’re good partners with them, so they — and us — were looking at exactly the same thing.”

The features of the app were decided upon by Santa Fe Police, Santa Fe’s Student Government and other faculty and staff. App developer AppArmor Mobile provided a template for the app.

“Our students, staff and faculty who are familiar with Santa Fe’s would be just as comfortable with UF’s and vice versa,” Book said.

While the app, initially released July 5, is a highlight of the Safe Santa Fe Days, the 90-minute sessions also discuss resources offered by the Santa Fe Police Department.

Sean Ahmadzadeh, a Santa Fe business sophomore, said he is already using the app after he attended one of the sessions.

“The app is a good way to inform students on campus and to be aware,” the 19-year-old said.