In lieu of this week’s horrific crime spree (read about it here), Her Campus USF would like to remind everyone that crime can happen to absolutely anyone at any time. While it is imperative to be conscious of your surroundings when you are outside and when you are alone, it is equally important to be aware of your safety even when you are with large groups of people. It’s so easy to forget, during our crazy, hectic lives, that our personal safety is not a given. Especially as young, college women, we need to be proactive and vigilant concerning our personal well-being.
Here are 9 ways to stay safe on and around campus.
1. Be aware
Always, always, always be aware of your surroundings. Assailants’ biggest advantage is the element of surprise. Don’t give them that opportunity!
Use your senses! Look for suspicious people, shadows and situations. Listen for out-of-place sounds, like footsteps and rustling. If something feels wrong intuitively, take ti to heart. Trust your intuition and your sense of fear.
Project a forceful presence when walking around at night, say in the Walmart parking lot or while strolling across campus. Do a 360 degree scan of your surroundings often. Stay in well-lit areas. Be cautious of sitting cars, bushes, shadows or anywhere else an attacker would hide.
Twiddling around on your phone distracts you from your surroundings and gives assailants the perfect opportunity to strike.
Never walk around at night with headphones in your ears. Your sense of hearing is one of the greatest tools you have, so don’t diminish it! Perpetrators will use your dull senses to their advantage.
2. Lock your door.
Don’t just lock your door when you aren’t home. Lock it when you run out to your car real quick. Lock it when you take the garbage out. It only takes one second with your back turned for an intruder to make his way in your home.
And, just as importantly, lock your doors even when you ARE home! The recent crime spree highlights the importance of locking your doors whether you are home or not. While a robber probably won’t try to trespass when they know you are home, a murderer or rapist will have no problem walking into your dorm or apartment when you are home. Even if you have fifty guests over, lock your door. It only takes one man with a gun to hold up a huge amount of people.
Don’t forget to lock your car doors, as well, to prevent carjackers from jumping in at a red light.
3. Walk with your keys out.
Keep your keys out when you are walking at night. First of all, this keeps your pepper spray (check out point 4 below) and keychain (check out point 5 below) handy and it also helps you project that strong, aware, purposeful presence that helps deter assailants (see point 1 above). Carrying your keys will also keep you from fumbling with them at your car or door. Prepare yourself so you can get to the safety of your car or door quickly. Don’t forget to lock the door behind you.
4. Carry pepper spray
While pepper spray probably won’t stop an assailant, it will make slow him down, which gives you the opportunity to flee. As mentioned above, you should carry your pepper spray on your keychain, where it is easily accessible. When buying pepper spray, buy the strongest grade possible. Nowadays pepper spray canisters can be cute accessories to add to your keychain.
5. Carry a self-defense keychain
Manufacturers make all sorts of cute self-defense keychains, nowadays. These keychains are more of a weapon than pepper spray, and can actually conflict some serious damage. Brutus the Bulldog (pictured) or cat-shaped keychains are both adorable and lethal.
6. Look for the blue lights
You may have noticed one of the 70 blue light emergency phones located all around the USF campus. If you are in trouble, press the button! The phone will call the police and the blue light will start to flash so that the police can find you.
7. Utilize USF’s resources
The university providesm many different safety resources. Subscribe your phone to MoBull, which is part of USF’s Emergency Notification System. Use Guardian, which “allows subscribers to turn a cell phone into a mobile safety device by activating a ‘precautionary timer’ as they travel from one area of Tampa campus to another. The timer is set as the individual leaves a location and will alert the University Police if that person does not call to cancel the timer in a specified amount of time,” says the MoBull website. Smart 911 provides emergency first responders with all your critical information, like your photo, class schedule and vehicle information.
8. Never lose sight of your drink
You’ve probably heard this advice many times during your college career. It’s often repeated because it is very important. A perpetrator can easily slip date rape drugs into your drink while your back is turned. If you lose sight of your drink, throw it out and grab a new one. Better safe than sorry.
9. Learn as much as you can about safety and self-defense
Scour the internet for information about how to stay safe. Check out USF’s annual Security and Fire Safety Report. Take advantage of USF Police Department’s educational programs. Take a self-defense class at a local martial arts studio. The more you know, the safer you’ll be.
Our hearts go out to the victims of this week’s crime spree, our gratitude goes out to the Tampa police and our thanks goes out to USF for keeping us informed.
Sources:
http://powertochange.com/life/personalsafetytips/
http://www.crimepreventiontips.org/safety-in-public/why-women-are-targeted-for-crimes.html
Photo Sources:
http://mywarriorwithin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Self-defense-awareness-woman.jpg
http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/fa…
http://www.dudeiwantthat.com/g…
http://media2.abcactionnews.co…