DPS issues personal safety tips to students

November 16th, 2005

In an effort to enhance student safety on campus and reduce the risk of crime, the West Virginia University Department of Public Safety offers the following tips:

  • While walking on or off campus, pay attention to your surroundings and assess any areas of possible risk. Learn to trust your instincts. If a situation makes you feel uncomfortable, avoid the situation.
  • Dont walk or jog alone at night. There is safety in numbers. Statistics indicate that your chances of being assaulted are reduced by up to 65 percent if you travel in groups of two or more. If you must walk alone at night, stay in well lit, well-traveled areas. If you are being followed by someone, activate a Blue Tower Emergency Phone, or go to a well populated area, and report the incident to police as soon as safely possible.
  • If you are walking home or anywhere around campus late at night and are concerned for your safety, call the Campus Police at 293- 2677 or 293-COPS. Give the dispatcher your location and route of travel and ask if a cruiser can patrol the area.
  • If you believe robbery is the motive, let them have anything they intend to steal, rather than risk personal injury.
  • Take a defensive tactic’s class, or martial arts class, and learn how to physically defend yourself against an attack. The University Police Department Training Division offers free personal defense classes for females and males. For information call 293-COPS and ask to speak with someone in the DPS Training Division
  • You may want to carry pepper spray. Pepper spray may be carried for personal protection and used for self-defense purposes.
  • If you are ever a victim of a crime, or witness a crime, try to remember what the person or persons involved looks like and how they were dressed. If a vehicle was involved, try to get a license number and note the direction of travel. Only do so if you will not put yourself in further jeopardy. Report the information to police as soon as possible, by using an emergency phone, or calling 293-2677 or 293-COPS on campus, or 911 off campus.