LUPD promotes ways to stay safe on campus

This fall semester, Liberty University welcomed nearly 4,400 new undergraduate students, according to the Office of Communications & Public Engagement.

While fall of 2021 remains the largest incoming class to date with 4,800 students, each year brings thousands of students who are navigating how to live without their families for the first time.

The newfound freedom that comes with being dropped off at college is a responsibility that can easily be abused or misused by those who do not understand they are responsible for their own well-being. Caught up in the whirlwind of meeting new people and adapting to new surroundings, it can become easy for students to lean into the madness and leave common sense back at their dorms.

While campus leadership is meant to guide students throughout their academic endeavors, what happens when students venture off campus and throw caution to the wind? 

Lynchburg and the surrounding cities are very different from the safe haven Liberty has created for its students around campus. The Liberty University Police Department (LUPD) Deputy Chief Gerald Irwin stressed how important it is to always be conscious of personal safety.

“Be aware of your surroundings. If you’re going to go somewhere, know where you’re going and the people you’re going with,” Irwin said.

Should something happen, however, LUPD officials want students to know that they will be protected no matter what situation they may find themselves in.

“Don’t be afraid to call the police; nobody is going to look down on you because you ended up in a situation that nobody should be put in — even if you made a mistake to get there,” Irwin said.

There is no telling what students might run into while out on their own. Vice President of Security and Public Safety Marcus Tinsley urges students to trust their intuition and exercise discernment while in social settings.

“If something feels off, it’s because it is. Don’t force yourself into a situation you know you shouldn’t be in,” Tinsley said.

If students do find themselves trapped in a potentially dangerous situation, LUPD has put measures in place to make sure students always have a way out. One of those measures is the Champion Safe app. Since its creation in May 2023, it now has had more than 8,000 downloads.

The app is complete with features such as a mobile blue light, which is similar to the beacons posted around campus, right in the palm of your hand. It also has a social escape feature that will call the user’s phone and give them an excuse to leave after any amount of time they set, ranging from 30 minutes to 30 seconds.

Other features include friend walk and virtual walk home, which connects the student’s phone to a friend or LUPD dispatcher. This gives a third party the ability to track the user’s walk to their destination to ensure safe arrival. Dispatch through the app is active 24/7 and ready to respond the second they are needed, no matter where the call comes from.

“Our dispatch is here on property, but they have communications with anybody. Whether they’re (students) in the City of Lynchburg or they’re in Campbell County or they’re in Bedford, we’re just a phone call away,” said Irwin.

LUPD partners with police stations across the state and will send officers who are the closest to retrieve the student from an unsafe situation. Then, LUPD may take them back to campus or bring them to their home.

“We want to get you back there safe,” Irwin said. “We want you to feel safe too.”   

Be sure to look for our next issue where we will go over how to use the Champion Safe app in greater detail.

Barber is the off-campus news editor.