Your Role in Staying Safe

See our section on sensitive crime

While UHDPS does everything we can to ensure that the campus if safe and secure, it is you who plays the most important role in your own safety. Below are a few tips and guidelines that will help you to take ownership of your safety. If you have any questions on topics that you do not see covered here, or you would like to schedule a crime prevention presentation for your office or group, please contact our crime prevention officer.

Never do anything or go anywhere where you do not feel safe! You intuition is your best guide of what may cause you harm. Listen to it.

Attend a self-defense class. The Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) Program taught by UHDPS officers empowers female students, faculty, and staff to combat various types of assaults by providing them with realistic self-defense tactics and techniques. This empowerment is taught through four basic principles: education, dependency on self, making one’s own decisions, and realization of one’s own power. The objective of RAD is to develop and enhance self-defense options for women. The course, which consists of four, 4-hour classes, begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction, and risk avoidance, while progressing to the basics of hands-on defense training. The classes provide women with the knowledge to make educated decisions about resistance. Classes are open only to female students, faculty, and staff. In order to successfully complete the course, students are required to attend all four classes.

Learn the locations of the blue light phones in the areas you frequent. These phones are directly linked to UHDPS.

Walk on well-lit paths. Take the most traveled route to and from classes. Walk with others if possible, especially at night, or take advantage of our Security Escort Program.
 

Keep doors locked. Lock the door to your room or office as you leave, and in the case of dorm rooms, while you are there as well. Do not hold open any secure doors to buildings or dorm to allow others to enter.
 

Know the emergency exits out of your dorm. Be sure your smoke detectors are working. Locate the fire extinguishers.
 

Go easy on the alcohol. Approximately 1700 students die from alcohol-related injuries each year. Alcohol often plays a role in acquaintance and date rape. Drinking too much may impair your judgment and make you less aware of your surroundings.

Do not give out personal information over the phone, through the mail, or over the Internet unless you have initiated the contact or know with whom you are dealing.

If you notice someone following you when you’re driving, head for the nearest busy, brightly lighted area. Write down the license number and make and model of the car an call 911.

Always lock car doors and take the keys when you leave your car, even if you’ll be gone just for a minute.

Don’t leave valuables in view in the car. Leave them in the trunk or, better yet, take them home immediately.

As you walk down the street or through the parking garage, walk alertly and assertively. Don’t weigh yourself down with too many parcels.

If you carry a purse, hold it close to your body; if a wallet, keep it in a front pocket.

Don’t display your cash or any other inviting targets such as pagers, cell phones, hand-held electronic games, or expensive jewelry and clothing.

UHDPS recommends that all students, faculty, and staff members take a moment and enter emergency contact information in their cell phone address book/contacts under the acronym ICE (In Case of Emergency). This would assist public safety officials in contacting the person to be called in the event of an emergency if you are ever discovered unconscious or incapacitated and unable to communicate. You should enter at least two ICE contacts with first name and relationship in your address book/contacts list. For example, your ICE entries could be: ICE - Sondra (mom) and ICE - John (brother). These entries could also be used to assist in returning your cell phone in the event that it is lost or stolen.

Entering these contacts into your cell phone should not replace the carrying of other photo identification (UH ID or license) at all times. You should also affix emergency contact information to these forms of identification.