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‘Wilkes Shield’ App Links Students to Safety

WILKES-BARRE — Wilkes University is using technology on your cell phone to keep students safe in Wilkes-Barre. “Wilkes Shield” is a free app immediately l...

WILKES-BARRE -- Wilkes University is using technology on your cell phone to keep students safe in Wilkes-Barre.

“Wilkes Shield” is a free app immediately linking students with campus police.

“If something comes up and you’re not near the public safety building, someone might not know what to do, so having something right on your phone is a good idea,” Darcy Huff.

“It allows students to have resources to every department on campus and make emergency phone calls all in one handy app,” student body president Cody Morcom explained.

And it does more. With “Friends Watch,” students can let friends know where they are, when they expect to get home, and when they might need help. The app has been downloaded 400 times since its release last week.

“It is allowing students to be prepared because I think we've all seen with what happened yesterday something totally unexpected can happen out of nowhere, and students across the country and students across the world need to be prepared,” said Morcom.

Students using the “Wilkes Shield” app can instantly contact emergency services if there's a problem or friends to let them know they are OK.

A new feature lets public safety officers instantly know where they are inside of a building.

Christopher Jagoe is the director of public safety. He says the indoor positioning will make it easier to track students in an emergency.

“This is how people communicate nowadays. They communicate via text, so this enables us to do both. We can either pick up a phone or you can call us or message us,” said Jagoe.

Wilkes University wants students to know Wilkes Shield has their back.

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