Safety

• Out and About?
• In University Residences?
• On a night out?
• Registering & Insuring your property?
• Reporting a crime?
• Additional Safety information for International students
• Important Contacts for Your Personal Safety

Walking home day or night

• Walk home before it gets dark if possible?
• If you are walking home at night, stick to well lit, busy areas
• Carry a personal safety alarm (You can pick up a free personal safety alarm at the Mentor Welfare Office based in Shackleton on the Vale)
• Let your flatmates know an approximate time you’ll be home.

• Walk home alone
• Walk alongside the canal (which runs from the Vale to uni station) at night
• Get into a stranger’s car for any reason
• Leave your friends on a night out and walk home – always use a taxi

• Cross the road
• Go into a nearby shop or pub
• Ring a friend and tell them exactly where you are
• Make a real, or fake, phonecall saying something like “I’ll see you in a minute, I’m just round the corner from you. It’ll be brilliant to see everyone. Have you got the dogs with you?” Scripts like this might sound strange, but if a potential attacker overhears this they might change their plans?
• Don’t go into phone booths to make a call – it will only box you in

Drink spiking

• Cover the top of bottles with your thumb/a spikey
• Go with someone to the bar if they buy you a drink
• Buy a new drink if you have any suspicions at all that it may have been spiked – it’s worth the extra money!

• Ever leave drinks unattended
• Minesweep (drink other people’s unattended drinks)
• Leave your drink with someone you don’t know

• Feeling ill, drowsy, disorientated or confused, but much more suddenly than if you’d just been drinking alcohol normally
• Passing out
• Having a loss of control of your limbs and finding it hard to talk (not just slurring)
• Waking up the next day feeling uncomfortable and/or not remembering entire sections of the night before

• Non alcoholic drinks can be spiked too
• Drink spiking can happen to men as well as women
• Spiking drugs often can’t be tasted or smelled

• Go to a safe place and tell a trusted family member or friend immediately
• Call 999 and ask for an ambulance – some drugs only stay in the body for a very short amount of time, so it is important that you get medical assistance as soon as possible?  

Using taxis

• Pre-book a taxi instead of getting into unmarked or private taxis, especially on nights out. Only old style black cabs are legally allowed to pick you up without a prior booking.
• Check the price before entering a taxi. Reasonable fares are as follows (although this is only approximate and may differ slightly between firms):

• Tell taxi drivers if your flat is empty that night when you go out, always say there is someone at home even if there isn’t
• Get In unmarked or private taxis
• Get in a taxi if there is not enough seats for your group; not only is it unsafe, it means the taxi isn’t insured in the event of an accident

Valuables

• Get your money out of a cashpoint during the day before a night out
• Spread your valuables around your body i.e. your phone in your bag, your house keys in your trouser pocket, your money in your jacket etc.
• Keep your things beside you not behind you if you are a wheelchair user
• Mark valuable personal items with a UV pen stating your surname, city and ID number – police can then track stolen items and return them to you, even if they are taken to a different part of the country. (You can get this done for you at the Mentor Welfare Office based in Shackleton on the Vale).

• Use the standard Apple earphones provided with an iPod whilst you are walking home – they automatically advertise its worth. Buy black ones to swap them with
• Carry your laptop in a laptop bag when walking home – try to carry it in something which is less distinctive, for instance a shopping bag or a rucksack
• Ring someone if you are walking home at night. Although this may provide you with personal reassurance, ironically it may increase your chances of being mugged for your phone

• If someone tries to take something from you, in most cases it is easier and safer to let them have it than to get into a confrontation
• You are legally allowed to use reasonable force as a form of self defence. You are also allowed to protect yourself with items you were carrying anyway e.g keys or a can of deodorant.
• However, you can’t carry a weapon (including mace spray)
• Be aware that your attacker may be stronger than you – it is often best to shout and run away You are more likely to get help from members of the public if you shout ‘Fire!’ instead of ‘Help!’