Crime Prevention and Safety

Crime Prevention do's and don't
Engraving Your Valuables
Important Phone Numbers

Crime Prevention Tips

Tips
Test Your Street Sense
Safety
Operation Identification
Fire Prevention
Drinking and driving is dangerous.

 

 

Crime Prevention Tips

Public Safety would greatly appreciate reports as soon as possible concerning the following situations:
• any unusual noises such as screams, breaking glass, etc.
• a tense situation that could escalate into a serious problem
• any emergency such as an accident, a fire, an injured/ill person, etc.
• anyone being forced into a vehicle
• recently broken windows or doors
• someone running from a car/building carrying property
• any form of vandalism
• someone looking into windows/parked vehicles
• vehicles driving slowly and aimlessly, back and forth.

If anyone is concerned about a particular situation, the office would rather be called and not needed then needed and not called.

Crime Prevention:   Test Your Street Sense

Do you jog by yourself early in the morning or at night?
_____ YES _____ NO

Do you carry all your possessions - cash, keys, ID, credit cards, checkbook, in a backpack every place you go, then leave it lying around?
_____ YES _____ NO

When you work late at the library, computer center, etc., do you think it's "wimpy" to call for an escort at 1:00 AM?
_____ YES _____ NO

Did you cash in your plane/bus ticket and hitch-hike home for spring break?
_____ YES _____ NO

If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, you need to change a few of your habits. Think about what you are doing before you become a victim.

Safety

Public Safety would appreciate assistance in keeping the Lafayette College campus a safer place to live in:
 
• Keep a complete, up-to-date inventory of valuables. People should mark them with their driver license number with one of the office's engravers.
• Keys should be kept and handled by the student, and the student only.
• Strangers should never be let in one's room, especially if someone is alone.
• Use good judgement in giving out phone numbers.
• Student ID number (Social Security number) should not be given out to anyone except the college faculty, administration, and/or staff.
• Bicycles should be locked to a permanent object or a bike rack, not just to itself.
• Always use the office's escort service, especially if one is traveling around the campus alone. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Most of all, each room contains a person's "life possessions"; therefore, doors need to be locked and keys always kept with the owner. If roommates do not care or understand, a room change request should be considered.
Too many times, people have the attitude that nothing like this happens to them, because it always happens to the other person...until it is too late. Don't be a statistic -- enjoy being a student!

Operation Identification

Operation Identification is a theft prevention program that involves marking your property with an identifying number. This discourages theft and helps in tracing stolen and recovered property to the rightful owner.
 
Public Safety recommends that students mark their property with the two-letter abbreviation of their home state, followed by their driver's license number. Students may stop at Public Safety (room 11 Marquis Hall) and sign out an electric engraver, free of charge, to mark valuables.

Anything a thief could carry away – cameras, stereos, VCR's, calculators, radios, TV's, computers, bicycles, and the like – should be marked. Then, the student need to make a written inventory of all the items that include their make, model, serial number, identification number (if any), date of purchase, and price. This should be kept in a safe place, in order to help security and one's insurance company handle the claim of a burglary.

Some valuables, such as certain jewelry, clothing, etc. may be damaged by engraving. They should be photographed in color or videotaped. An indelible marking pen is another option in this situation. For small items, include a ruler in the picture for scale.

Remember, Operation Identification takes only a small amount of time and effort, and can be a big help in discouraging a thief.

Fire Prevention

• Feel door - if warm remain in room; seal door with wet towels and call for help (extension 5333 or 9 (for outside line) then 911).
• If door is cool leave room - close windows and room door and use an emergency exit.
• Always use the stairs (not elevator).
• In case of smoke or heat crawl on hands and knees.
• If the alarm is not sounding pull a fire-box.
• Never ignore a fire alarm and leave the building immediately.
• Keep calm.
• Report the fire to Public Safety and Easton Fire Department.

Please do not misuse or abuse fire safety equipment. Such apparatus may save a life.

Drinking and driving is dangerous.

• Just take a look at these facts:
• There are over 50,000 deaths in the United States highway accidents each year.
• Alcohol is a factor in at least half of those deaths.
• Each year, alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents result in several billion dollars of property damage, insurance costs, and medical services.
• Several hundred thousand arrests occur.
• Approximately one out of six drinkers become dependant on alcohol to the extend that it interferes with their relationships with themselves, their families, their jobs and/or their education.
• One tenth percent blood alcohol content (BAC) is evidence of being "intoxicated" to the point of being physically and mentally incapable of driving safely.
• Approximately 55 percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes had BAC levels of .10 percent or higher.