UK is committed to ensuring the safety of students, faculty and staff, and has been looking for ways to increase the safety of each. 

UK Police is expanding its alert system to Twitter with an account for off-campus safety alerts.

The account will cover safety alerts in densely populated off-campus student residential areas.

“In the past year there has been an increase in safety issues in the off-campus areas that are densely populated by UK students residing off-campus,” UK Police Chief Joe Monroe said. 

The Twitter account will not replace UK Alerts.

Earlier in the school year, focus groups were held with UK students in conjunction with UK Police to solicit input on how campus police could make students aware of situations off campus.

“One of the recommendations that came from the focus groups was to create a separate Twitter account for off-campus safety concerns,” Monroe said.

Students at UK are welcoming the twitter account.

“I think it is a great way to reach students; social media is how we receive most of our information,” agricultural and medical biotechnology senior Drew Jennings said.

UK Police will be working collaboratively with the off-campus student community to increase safety. They will update the Twitter account as they become aware of a situation off-campus and will continue to update as more information is received. 

Students can turn on the push notifications for the account, and will immediately be notified when information is posted.

Signing up for push notifications

iPhone:

1. In the Twitter app, go to @ukyoffcampus

2. Click “Follow”

3. Tap the notification icon 

4. Click “All Tweets”

Android:

1. In the Twitter app, go to @ukyoffcampus

2. Click “Follow”

3. Tap the notification icon 

4. Check the box next to “Account notifications”

5. From the pop-up message, choose “All Tweets”

The Twitter account can be found at https://twitter.com/ukyoffcampus or on Twitter @ukyoffcampus.