BYU Introduces SafeWalk App

PHOTO: BYU

BYU Introduces SafeWalk Feature to App

The new university app feature, called Safewalk, expands on an already existent BYU program to enable police to track students’ locations through their smartphones and virtually “walk” with students through campus and the student housing areas.

Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, is offering a new feature in their university app that allows police to provide students with a virtual escort if they feel unsafe. The feature, called Safewalk, expands on an already existent BYU program to enable police to track students’ locations through their smartphones and virtually “walk” with students through campus and the student housing areas.  

The physical SafeWalk program BYU offers pairs a student or employee with a police or building security officer to walk them across campus late at night or early in the morning. The virtual SafeWalk, a collaboration between BYU, campus police and a student advisory board, offers similar peace of mind without an officer physically present.

Users can access the SafeWalk feature on their phone in BYU’s app and log in with their student or employee information. They confirm their destination on a map, and the app will text them to let them know their SafeWalk has begun and they can start moving. As users walk across campus with the app enabled, campus police are able to track their location and progress toward their marked destination.

Police monitoring a user’s SafeWalk will be alerted when the user’s velocity rapidly increases, signaling that they have gotten into a vehicle. The SafeWalk feature also lets them know if users take too long to get to their destination or stray far from the path.

If something looks wrong, police can contact a user to verify if they’re safe. The app allows users to hit a button to indicate that they’ve arrived at their target safely, and it also includes a large emergency button for users to press if they feel unsafe, letting police know to respond and possibly move to their location.

“It gives us a method where if they do feel unsafe or in an unsafe situation and they hit that emergency button, we know exactly where they are, we know who they are and we can communicate with them very quickly,” said Steve Goodman, the manager of the BYU Police Technology and Communications Center.

The location tracking raised concerns among students about whether their location could be monitored without actively using the SafeWalk feature, but according to developers, the app does not allow users to be tracked unless SafeWalk is enabled. As soon as the SafeWalk ends, the user’s location is no longer visible by police.

Since the launch of the virtual SafeWalk, police have had to respond to users physically in a few situations. In each instance, the student’s phones had died.

“I think we live in a time where the need may be just the fact that we’re able to do it, and maybe there’s been a need for a long, long time, for this type of thing. We can do it now, we know how to do it and so why shouldn’t we use that to make it a safer place?” said Lt. Steven Messick with BYU Police Department.

About the Author

Jessica Davis is the Associate Content Editor for 1105 Media.

Featured

  • Pragmatism, Productivity, and the Push for Accountability in 2025-2026

    Every year, the security industry debates whether artificial intelligence is a disruption, an enabler, or a distraction. By 2025, that conversation matured, where AI became a working dimension in physical identity and access management (PIAM) programs. Observations from 2025 highlight this turning point in AI’s role in access control and define how security leaders are being distinguished based on how they apply it. Read Now

  • Report: Cyber Attackers Continue to Turn to AI-Based Tools to Avoid Detection

    Comcast Business recently released its 2025 Cybersecurity Threat Report, a comprehensive analysis of 34.6 billion cybersecurity events detected between June 1,2024 and May 31, 2025. Now in its third year, the report offers business leaders a unique perspective into the evolving threat landscape and provides actionable insights to help organizations strengthen their defenses and align cybersecurity with business risk. Read Now

  • Axis Communications Creates AI-powered Video Surveillance Orchestra

    What if cameras could not only see the world, but interpret it—and respond like orchestra musicians reading sheet music: instantly, precisely, and in perfect harmony? That’s what global network technology leader Axis Communications set to find out. Read Now

  • Just as Expected

    GSX produced a wonderful tradeshow earlier this week. Monday was surprisingly strong in the morning, and the afternoon wasn’t bad at all. That’s Monday’s results and asking attendees to travel on Sunday. Just a quick hint, no one wants to give up their weekend to travel and set up an exhibit booth. I’m just saying. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX
  • NOLA: The Crescent City

    Twenty years later we finds ourselves in New Orleans. Twenty years ago the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina forced exhibitors and attendees to look elsewhere for tradeshow floor space. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX

New Products

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles.

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities