FSU tragedy highlights importance of emergency response apps like SaferWatch
SaferWatch is a mobile safety app that allows schools, students, and the general public to report an emergency to law enforcement quickly.
The company is also behind the panic alarm systems that are in more than 2,000 schools in Florida, including Palm Beach County Schools, and some schools in St. Lucie County.
SaferWatch created its panic button in response to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland in 2018.
Founder Geno Roefaro says in the wake of the Florida State University shooting Thursday, multiple Parkland parents, whom he’s worked closely with to fine-tune the SaferWatch, reached out to him for more information.
“A few of them reached out just to see if we had any information as to what was going on and any updates that were happening,” Roefaro said. “Which kind of further highlights that these problems still exist and the communication gaps still exist.”
So far, Roefaro says SaferWatch has prevented 12 planned school shootings and has cut down response times by 35% on average.
When faculty and staff at a school hit the panic button, it sends the exact location of the incident to law enforcement.
Agencies who use SaferWatch, like the West Palm Beach Police Department, are then able to access the same information from incident in real time.
Staff at the operations center based out of Broward County add an extra layer of protection and help watch emergencies as they’re happening.
Right now, Nova University in Broward is one of the only colleges in South Florida that’s a SaferWatch partner, but Roefaro said the app is for anyone.
“If you are a subscriber to the SaferWatch application, which is free to the general public. law enforcement sends out real-time alerts from SaferWatch directly to the public that keep you updated in real time,” he said. “As well as if you have the application as a general citizen or a student, you’re able to actually communicate directly with local law enforcement.”
App users are also able to live stream an emergency to law enforcement directly on the app.
SaferWatch’s motto is “if you see something, send something.”
