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Safety App Leads to Uber Driver's Arrest

The arrest of an Uber driver arrested for allegedly groping a USC student over the weekend may have never happened if not for another app that thousands of students currently have on their phone.

Twelve thousand USC students have LiveSafe on their phones, including the student who was taking an Uber ride from campus when she said the driver inappropriately touched her. Police said she launched her app, and that's how they caught the driver quickly.

When activated, the app triggers an alert that is transferred to the USC Public Safety command center with the user’s email address and GPS location.
 
The app then allows students to talk directly or text message with 911 operators.

USC Deputy Chief David Carlisle said 12,000 of USC's nearly 60,000 students are active users of the app. The school teamed up with LiveSafe last year in order to give students an updated way to stay safe and report crimes.

Sophomore Olive Dadgar has had the app on her phone for a year.

“I downloaded during orientation,” she said.

Fortunately, she has never had to use it in an emergency.

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Police said it's a new way of staying safe, using technology students are comfortable with, and at USC they hope to get the remainder of the student body to opt in to the app.

“It's a very convenient way to help keep students safe," Carlisle said.

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