Campus safety forum addresses concerns

A panel of eight VCU administrative staff gathered Wednesday night to address a near-full auditorium at the annual campus safety forum. A wide range of issues were discussed, leaving those in attendance with a better understanding of how the university handles safety issues.

The issues discussed included emergency procedures, residence hall safety, pedestrian safety and campus crime. The recent string of robberies on and around campus was discussed in length.

Acting VCU Police Chief Carlton Edwards addressed the need for students to exercise common sense when walking around campus at night.

“First, don’t put yourself in harms way,” Edwards said. “You should be able to walk anywhere you want to, at any time. However, we have some people out here that are looking to prey on college students, and that’s just a fact of life.”

Edwards said in this situation the best course of action is to give up whatever material possessions the attacker may want, and try to remember a description of the person.

“Give it to them … you can get other pocketbooks, you can get other money. You can’t get another you,” Edwards said.

Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration John Bennett said most crime in the VCU area does not occur on campus, but in the surrounding neighborhoods such as the Fan, Oregon Hill and Carver.

According to Bennett, the most common crime on campus is larceny.

“Fifty-six percent of all criminal activity reports (on campus) are larcenies,” Bennett said. “Most often it’s somebody having a cell phone taken or a laptop taken, or a backpack taken after having been left somewhere unsecured.”

Vice Provost of Student Affairs Henry Rhone said there are many reasons students might be out late, but they should not travel alone for more than one block.

“You might be studying in the library, you might be engaged in any number of things. The advice is, not to leave that location heading back home by yourself,” Rhone said. “Call the escort service.”

According to the VCU police Web site, there are currently 326 Emergency Reporting Telephone System phones located at various areas on both campuses and satellite properties. The Emergency Reporting Telephones phones connect directly with the VCU Police Department Emergency Communications Division. Most have a flashing yellow strobe light above them.

The ERTS phones can be used to contact VCU police and to call an escort.

Another issue the panel spent a considerable amount of time discussing was VCU’s emergency procedures.

“In most cases, you’ll be notified to stay where you are if you’re in a secure place until you are instructed to do something different,” Bennett said. “The whole theory here is you stabilize the campus, and then you mobilize all your resources at the point of the emergency.”

Students will be notified of emergency situations through the university’s text messaging system and emergency alert devices.

“In every classroom that you go in, there is an emergency alert device that sends an audio and a visual signal,” Bennett said. “And right next to it are the five things you should do in an emergency.”

The panel stressed multiple times the importance of students using common sense and not putting themselves in danger. Use of the escort service is free and runs from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. Sunday through Saturday.

“If you’re in these buildings and something looks out of place to you, don’t hesitate to call us,” Edwards said. “That’s why we are here.”

VCU police can be reached at 828-1234, and the VCU escort service can be reached at 828-WALK.