The Department of Public Safety is emphasizing the importance of resources available to students after Boise Police responded to a homicide near 11th Street and Pioneer Parkway and a woman was attacked near S. Ferguson Street in early July.
These crimes were jarring to the Boise community, however Lt. Chris Davis with Boise Police stressed Boise is “still very safe. “
“The state of Idaho and the city of Boise are extremely safe compared to the rest of the United States,” Davis said. “The city of Boise is very safe within the state of Idaho. Idaho has a very low crime rate [and] the city of Boise has a very low crime rate.”
Junior mechanical engineering student Granite Stephens agreed too. “I feel pretty safe on the Greenbelt,” Stephens said. “I have not had any bad experiences.”
Neither crime took place on campus and the Greenbelt is considered safe according to both Boise State officials and Boise Police. The safety of the Greenbelt on campus is bolstered with blue light phones, lights and security cameras.
“We do have a fairly safe stretch of greenbelt,” said Tana Monroe, associate vice president of the Department of Public Safety. “It’s well lit. It has the blue light phones where people can push the buttons and get a hold of 911 dispatch and our security officers, our public safety office.”
Boise State also utilizes a mobile app called Rave Guardian, allowing users to contact emergency services and communicate with university dispatchers. The app essentially acts as a direct hotline to campus security or police.
“So what you can do is you can text our dispatchers, you can immediately call 911,” said Monroe. “It also at that time sends the GPS coordinates of where the phone is, and so we can call the person and then immediately dispatch police and security to their location.”
The app also contains a safety timer function for additional security. The timer can be set for any length of time and if not deactivated, will automatically alert either a set emergency contact, or campus security.
Lt. Davis also encouraged students to have access to the app.
“Everybody on campus should download Rave Guardian and have it on their phone,” Davis said. “There’s a ton of different resources on there.”
As for what students can do to keep safe, both Monroe and Lt. Davis emphasized staying aware of your surroundings as a key way to stay safe. They both recommended removing earbuds or any distractions and for students to be aware of their surroundings when using the Greenbelt.
