It should come as no surprise to anybody that Facebook is rapidly becoming the most useful platform for emergency communication between friends and family during emergencies and disasters. The company first launched the feature known as “Safety Check” just over two years ago and ever since has seen a rapid expansion in the number of people using it during crisis situations. Safety Check is a user-friendly; quick and effective way to report your personal safety as well as check on the well-being of family and friends.
One of the best examples of how quickly this feature was able to post and relay information within a network of affected or likely affected individuals in or around the scene of a major crisis was during the Orlando nightclub shooting that took place back in June of this year. The following article describes how critical this feature was to a group of people that had never heard of it prior to this tragic event https://www.wired.com/2016/11/facebook-disaster-response/ Safety Check is also widely being used at this time for the wildfires in Gatlinburg, TN http://www.wbir.com/news/local/facebook-activates-safety-check-feature-for-sevier-co-fires/357405529
Learn more about Safety Check on Facebook and become familiar with it should you ever have to use it for yourself or to verify the safety of others by visiting their FAQ page @ https://www.facebook.com/about/safetycheck/
We encourage the community to partner with the UC Irvine Police Department to prevent or report crime by calling (949) 824-5223. If you wish to remain Anonymous, call “OC Crime Stoppers” by dialing 855-TIP-OCCS (855-847-6227), text "OCCS" plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or use the website http://occrimestoppers.org/
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