Emergency Alert System

Blackburn College, in order to maintain a safe campus environment, has an emergency notification system.

Students are asked at the beginning of each year to update their contact information. It is important that students provide the cell phone number they will use while at college. Blackburn uses an opt-out system when enrolling students, faculty, and staff in the emergency notification system. This means everyone is enrolled when they begin their education or employment at Blackburn College. At that time, they will be signed up for the emergency notification system. Students, faculty, and staff will be notified through text messaging, phone messaging, and/or email of any serious emergency situations on campus. At the beginning of the fall semester, an announcement will be made of a test of the emergency notification system. If a student, faculty, or staff member does not receive the emergency alert and would like to receive them, they should contact Technology Services.

It is Blackburn College’s policy to issue emergency notification alerts in an effort to notify students and faculty members about certain crimes in and around our community in a timely manner. For the purposes of this policy, “timely manner” means that, upon confirmation by college administrators, the campus community will be immediately notified of any significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or staff. Warnings may only be withheld if they would compromise efforts to contain the emergency. Blackburn College complies with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act as mandated by the Department of Education.

The Blackburn emergency notification system will only be used in significant emergencies or dangerous situations involving an immediate threat. These dangerous situations may include weather-related warnings. Frequent, non-emergency use of this system might compromise its effectiveness in a serious emergency situation. The emergency notification system will be used to provide instructions and information to all or an affected segment of the campus population who are enrolled in the system before, during, and after a situation where student health and safety may be compromised due to a natural disaster, criminal activity, and/or public health threat.

LiveSafe – Blackburn’s Campus Safety App

Enhancing Safety and Security on Campus

With the LiveSafe app, you have a fast and direct connection to Blackburn College, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Not just for emergencies, the app can help you, and us, be more proactive in keeping everyone in our community safer.

Please note: LiveSafe replaces all previous public safety apps for Blackburn College, and is available to both students and family members, as well as employees.

Get the App

  1. Download the app on your iPhone or Android phone
  2. Select “Blackburn College as your affiliation
  3. Fill in your user profile
  4. You’re all set to start using the app!
App Store
Google Play

Get to know LiveSafe’s features:

  • See something? Say something. Does something look suspicious to you? Share that through the “Report Suspicious Activity” feature. You can attach a photo, video, or audio file. Do it anonymously, if you wish.
  • Something already happened? The “Report Incident” feature allows you to quickly and easily submit a report with just a few taps.
  • You or someone else is in serious trouble? The “Emergency Options” feature allows University police to pinpoint your location more quickly. Blackburn College can also engage in a real-time text conversation with you in order to gather crucial details about what’s happening.
  • Want to know exactly where you are? The Safety Map tells you where you stand in relation to Blackburn College buildings, places of safety, and more.
  • Want a virtual guardian angel? Feel safer walking alone at night with the SafeWalk feature, which is a peer-to-peer virtual escort tool that allows permitted friends or family to follow your location through the app or on a secured website. If you don’t arrive at your intended location, they can contact you to ensure you’re safe or use your last-known location to contact emergency personnel.
  • Looking for more resources? The Resources feature gives you fast access to phone numbers, just-in-time training, and emergency procedures.

Frequently Asked LiveSafe Questions

LiveSafe is a free mobile safety app made available by Blackburn College Public Safety and is easy and quick to use! Download the LiveSafe mobile app in iTunes or the Google Play store. Select “Blackburn College” as the school / agency and fill out your user profile.
The app is available as a free download for all Blackburn College students, faculty and staff. In addition, parents may download LiveSafe to receive timely alerts and notifications.
Blackburn College Students, Faculty and Staff are encouraged to use the LiveSafe app to communicate with Blackburn College about any issues, concerns or questions related to campus safety and security. The app may be used to inquire about policies and best practices for getting help for a friend, reporting vandalism, suspicious activity or any other issue related to conduct and well-being.
Information submitted is monitored 24/7 by Blackburn College. In case campus safety requires further information on any report, the Police will follow-up and live chat with the user. For issues that require involvement by other University offices, the University Police will contact the appropriate offices and personnel.
Blackburn College can easily re-categorize reports, so users don’t need to worry if they mistakenly select the wrong category. If you are unsure which category the report falls into, select “Other”.
No. While users are encouraged to provide picture, audio or video evidence when sending in reports, they are only advised to do so if the circumstances are safe.
Users will not be penalized for making claims that turn out to be untrue. So long as reports aren’t purposefully and falsely claimed, people are encouraged to share information.
Users can send in tip reports using the anonymous feature if they are not comfortable with disclosing their identity. Blackburn College will not be able to see who the report is coming from if this is activated.
No. When faced with an emergency situation, LiveSafe recommends and promotes dialing 911. The aim of the LiveSafe app is to provide a new channel to report non-emergency information and crimes to Blackburn College. If in an emergency situation (on- or off-campus), LiveSafe has a 911 distress button. When calling 911 using LiveSafe, Blackburn College will receive greater information and intelligence in order to provide assistance faster. Blackburn College will receive the caller’s GPS coordinates and emergency contact information; ensuring dispatchers respond more efficiently and quickly.
LiveSafe respects the privacy of individuals and law enforcement agencies. Data will only be analyzed in aggregate form once individual information is scrubbed and anonymized. Evidence information belongs solely to the law enforcement agency for which it was designated.

Timely Warnings

In the event that a situation arises, either on or off campus, that, in the judgment of the Campus Safety Director or his/her designee, constitutes a serious or continuing threat to the Campus Community or to those in the immediate area, a campus-wide “timely warning” will be issued. The Campus Safety Director or his/her designee will consider whether a timely warning is issued on a case-by-case basis in light of the circumstances and facts surrounding a crime, including factors such as:

The nature of the crime
  • Crimes falling under the categories of “Clery Act Crimes” which represent a serious or continuing threat to the Campus Community.
  • Other crimes involving serious bodily injury or the threat of bodily injury.
The continuing danger to the campus community
  • Suspects have not been identified or apprehended.
  • There is a pattern of crimes against persons or property and a timely warning will help members of the campus community protect themselves and/or their property.
Any circumstance in which a timely warning will aid in the prevention of similar occurrences
  • Should the Campus Safety Director or his/her designee decide to issue a timely warning, the warning will include information that will promote safety and aid in the prevention of similar crimes. The timely warning will also include known information about the crime that triggers the warning, which may include the date and time the crime occurred, the location, and the type of crime which occurred.
  • The Campus Safety Director or his/her designee, in determining the content of a timely warning notice, will consider whether information may compromise law enforcement efforts, for example, by disclosing law enforcement tactics or policies.
  • Under current Blackburn College policy, the Campus Safety Director or his/her designee may use the following to issue a timely warning:
    – The Blackburn College email system to students, faculty, and staff.
    – The Blackburn College student and employee text messaging and push notification system (LiveSafe).

Public Safety Contact Options

Carlinville Police Dept.
(217) 854-3221

Campus Safety
x4224

Emergency Fire, Medical, or Campus Safety
911

LiveSafe App
Info and Download

Campus Conduct Hotline
(24-HOUR HOTLINE)
(866) 943-5787