El Camino College recently adopted Rave, a new emergency alert system which launched on Aug. 12, ditching its former system, Nixle.
Before its campus-wide adoption, Rave has been used by the El Camino College Police Department for many years. The police department has been working with the risk management office and ITS division to expand to the campus community.
Interim chief of police Ruben Lopez said Rave was adopted because the system is consistent and helpful, compared to Nixle.
“It [Nixle] was very limited in the character and messaging that we can send to our students and campus population,” Lopez said.
The emergency alert system allows more detailed messages with character limits and includes hyperlinks to text messages. In addition, it includes a feature that helps students walk to their car.
“Rave is user-friendly,” Associated Student Organization advisor Tyler Strohl said. “Students want to be safe in this community and you can text a police officer if you’re feeling unsafe.”
Lopez said the switch to Rave has been in development for about a year.
“If you have an elcamino.edu address, you get automatically enrolled with the Rave system,” Lopez said.
Students who attend evening classes expressed concerns about feeling vulnerable due to the lack of lighting on campus, paired with the distraction of wearing headphones, which can potentially be a hindrance of environmental awareness.
ECC student Grace Sherman, 20, said the Rave app is convenient, but not convenient enough.
“Honestly I feel campus is very loose,” Sherman said. “With how people are loose and hanging around campus like homeless people, gangs, and creeps so my advice is pack something like pepper spray or a key.”
On the other hand, students who attend evening classes with safety concern can cause less vulnerability having Rave and contacting police on campus.
make me feel safe," Cabrera said. "[Rave] lets me know what's going on on-campus." (Greg Fontanilla | The Union)” align=”aligncenter” id=”attachment_4008918″ width=”450″]![Katherine Cabrera, 18, a mathematics major, reads through a Rave digital flyer on her phone in front of the Student Services Building on Wednesday, Sept. 11. Cabrera, who normally attends classes during the day, said she feels safe on campus. "The police [officers] make me feel safe," Cabrera said. "[Rave] lets me know what&squot;s going on on-campus." (Greg Fontanilla | The Union)](https://eccunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/IMG_8293.jpg)
“It’s very good to have a lot of ways to stay alert so you can be safe with the new app… Definitely keep ears and eyes open cause you never know,” 28-year-old student Jamie Forney said.
To sign up, text ECCPD to 226787 (CAMPUS) to receive alerts from the Rave Emergency Alert System.
