Alex Wowra walked toward his parked car on Portland St. after having lunch with friends on campus, when a man approached him and said, “you shouldn’t have left your windows open.”

Wowra, a graduate student at the University of Southern California, felt blood rush to his face as his eyes darted back and forth from his car to the man’s face. He moved quickly toward his car, now only a few parking spots ahead of him.

His rear window had been pulled down much lower than the “tiny crack” he had left open in hopes that his damp wetsuit from scuba diving earlier that day would dry. He unlocked the doors and began looking around to see if anything was missing. His iPod, where was it?

The cable that charged it, usually plugged into his front console, was now in his back seat—the iPod no longer attached. 

Wowra took out his cell phone and searched the phone number for the Department of Public Safety at USC. 

He told the operator that someone had broken into his car and took his iPod. He looked around for a landmark so he could tell the operator where he was exactly on Portland St., finally just settling on saying he was close to frat row.

While he waited for the officer to arrive, he asked some of the neighbors what they saw. They all described a young man who approached his car on a scooter, pushed down the rear window and took something out of the car before leaving hurriedly. 

It took DPS under ten minutes to arrive and a little bit longer to fill out a report of what was stolen. Four months later, Wowra still hasn’t heard anything about his iPod or the man that stole it. 

Wowra’s experience resembles the 66 reported robbery, burglary or motor vehicle thefts that occurred in and around USC last year. This summer, one student, the victim of an attempted robbery, died after being beaten by four assailants while walking home from campus.

SEE ALSO: Trojan Family Members Gather In Remembrance of Xinran Ji

USC has undertaken a safety overhaul in the past several months since this incident, dialing up off campus security year round and shortening waiting times for escorted rides home offered by the popular Campus Cruiser service, among other improvements. 

One safety update, in the form of a cell phone app, hopes to aid crime prevention so students like Wowra won’t have to go through an ordeal of that nature again.

“In a situation where something suspicious is happening, this app allows the user to send an anonymous tip to DPS so chances of an arrest are higher,” says William Regensburger, director of Fire Safety and Emergency Management at USC. 

In Wowra’s case, the hope is that one of the neighbors would have used the app to report the incident. Better yet, if a witness could have taken a picture of the assailant in the act, a function capable in the app, they could have sent it directly to DPS.

In addition to tips, the app’s interface also allows the user to call DPS or LAPD in an emergency situation, view a map of recent criminal activity in the area, and have a friend virtually walk someone home.

“People around USC are victims of crime not because it’s an unsafe area,” says Chief John Thomas of the Department of Public Safety at USC. “It’s because of all the stuff that they have.”

Thomas says cell phones and laptops are among the most frequently stolen items. He says criminals are aware that those items are often worth more than anything someone has in their wallet. 

While reported burglaries and robberies are down from 117 in 2011 and 74 in 2012, USC decided to buy the app from LiveSafe, an app used in 18 states across the country.

The founder of LiveSafe, Shy Pahlevani, says he wishes he had this app three years ago.

Pahlevani was walking to his car in Washington DC after a long day at work. Before he could place the voice, Pahlevani heard a voice yelling at him to surrender all his belongings, a pistol pointed at him as soon as he looked up. 

“I couldn’t believe what was happening to me,” says Pahlevani. Avoiding eye contact, he quickly handed over his belongings and was left standing alone just as soon as he was approached.

“I remember how helpless I felt in that moment,” says Pahlevani.

At the time, Pahlevani worked for buySafe, a company that aims to boost consumer confidence by providing online retailers with identity theft protection they then pass along to their customers. 

If he could protect people online, why not others experiencing crime right where they live or work he thought. With an increase in the number of campus shootings, Pahlevani says he knew he wanted to create something that could prevent crime from happening near schools.

USC has plans to mandate an online safety course for all students starting in Fall of 2015, according to Ainsley Carry, Vice Provost of Student Affairs. But more than any class or video, giving a student a safety precaution they can take with them is the goal. 

“We’re trying to replace the old and tired blue light system we’ve had on campus for so many years,” says Regensburger.  

Blue light emergency phones have been a staple around the college campuses around the nation. They serve as a direct line connecting someone to the Department of Public Safety in the event of a crime or suspicious activity. 

USC has about 80 blue lights located throughout its campus and around student housing facilities just off campus. They cost the university about five dollars a month to maintain for each phone, according to Regensburger. The obvious complaint from students is, what if I’m not close enough to one when something happens?

“We’re trying to eliminate the mobility issue associated with blue lights,” says Regensburger. 

Despite the fact that the blue light phones are stationary, Regensburger says it’s hard to faze them out without facing opposition about decreasing crime deterrents.

The app will cost the university about $20,000 dollars a year to use, according to Regensburger. Students, faculty, staff and the surrounding community however download the app at no cost. 

The Trojan Mobile Safety App, has four main features that allows the user to report tips, contact various emergency departments, view a map of where they are, and have someone virtually walk them to and from locations. 

The SafeWalk feature allows users like Wowra to share their location with a friend so one friend can monitor the other’s commute to an apartment or car parked off campus in case there's an emergency. Some students had already been using apps like Find my Friends or Google Maps to function in a similar fashion. 

But with increased mobility surfaces other concerns. 

Regensburger has been doing presentations for the app with various students groups for several weeks. While meeting with the International Student Assembly, several students offered improvements and raised concerns. 

“But if something happens to me, the person walking me home can only see that I’ve stopped or I’m taking too long, right?” asked one student. 

Regensburger likened the app’s functionality to 190 cameras located throughout the campus and surrounding community. 

“It allows us to know something’s happened to you more quickly,” replied Regensburger. 

The SafeWalk feature changes how the university has traditionally packaged safety. Prior to the app, students were always encouraged to walk in groups, especially late at night. But now, concerns over long wait times for escorted rides home via Campus Cruiser is making the university offer another service for those who inevitably end up walking alone.

SEE MORE: Safety, The Trojan Compromise

Also of concern is privacy. 

While the app has three options for sharing location information—never, while using the App and always—the app will only function when location services are “always” enabled. 

LiveSafe offer's this explanation: "We'll only use your location in emergencies. We won't actively track you without your permission!"

Still, the app has the ability to monitor location even if it's not in use.

“You will have consented,” says Jonathan Kotler, Media Lawyer and Professor at USC. Kotler says, once a user has given the app permission to "always" access a user's location, it has permission to do just that. 

Kotler adds the app is not above the law either and would be subject to search warrants from law enforcement agencies where it could be called upon to obtain a user’s location during an investigation.

USC isn’t the only university to use the app. Colleges and other institutions across the country have jumped on board. Virginia Tech launched the app earlier this year and reported in September that only 1700 people are using the app among a student population of over 30,000 alone. 

“Usage is a big concern,” says Robert Hernandez, digital journalism professor at USC. Before getting too carried away about privacy, he warns that user integration for these apps can be a stalemate. 

“First you have to find a way to get people to download it,” he says. “But then, they actually have to use it.”

USC launches the Trojan Mobile Safety App November 17.

Reach Senior Staff Reporter Tahsin Hyder here, and follow here on Twitter here.