Between 3:52 a.m. and 4:36 a.m. on Friday June 22nd, students subscribed to the UT text message alert system were notified about an aggravated assault on Martin Luther King Blvd and Trinity St. The University of Texas Police Department (UTPD) provides a notification service to students that allows them to instantly know when a crime has been committed or when their safety is in danger.

"I think it's a great system,” student Bryan Shaffar said. “In light of the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings and our own incident in 2010, I'd much rather be informed about campus emergencies than not."

Via text, e-mail, and even posting on Facebook and Twitter, the UTPD alert system informs students about crimes or warnings happening in the surrounding area of campus. Many students live close to or on campus, so, according to their mission statement, it's their duty to protect this "large, nationally recognized university community."

With crimes potentially happening at any hour during a day, it's not rare for an alert to be sent out at the wee hours of the morning. Appreciated or not, these alerts are known for their timeliness and are immediately sent when a crime is reported.

"I personally do find it useful. If they wouldn't send me a text, I'd never know what was going on. It's good to know what areas of campus are safe,” student Roxy Granados said. “Some people complain about it being sent at odd hours of the day like at four or give a.m., but to me, it doesn't matter what time they send it, just as long as we get notified.”

Others say they understand that UTPD is only "trying to keep the community in the loop of things," but that not every crime should be sent out as an alert.

"Look, I get that events like robberies and assaults should be reported and it's good for us to know about them, but why do we need to know about these things every single time they happen? It's like we're getting a play by play about the crime itself. Thanks, but, chill out,” student Art Carrasco said.

Length of the message and time received are also things that the alert system has been criticized for.

When asked about the negative views of the alert system, UTPD Officer Darrell Halstead gave his input. He said that according to the Clery act, all campuses have to disclose their crime statistics on a yearly basis. As crimes are reported, the act is modified to further ensure students' safety.

"Five years ago, around the Virginia Tech shooting, the law was altered saying that colleges need to put out a timely warning as an incident is ongoing for that it could have an impact on any college bystanders. Their duty is to notify these groups and keep them away from danger," Halstead said.

He went on to say that since there are only a certain amount of characters that are allotted per message, sometimes more than one message will be sent so that all the information can be conveyed.

Officer Halstead encourages all those who spend much of their time around campus to enable the text message alert system.

"I get them myself. So yes, I've received messages at four or five n the morning,” he said. “But even then, if it's something that is not of major danger, I'll put away my phone and keep sleeping. But if I think it's worth worrying about, I'll call the station and ask if my assistance is needed. I really hope more people subscribe to these messages. Especially given the fact that there's always a potential for an incident to reach and/or travel to virtually any area of campus."