by Bryan Jones
Safety is paramount in almost all public places and the University of West Georgia is no exception. While the university has its own police department, they cannot be in all places all the time nor have eyes everywhere 24 hours a day. Due to this, safety is primarily a student initiative and tools are available for their use.
Rape aggression defense courses are taught each semester.
“Ninety percent of self-defense is mental,” said Master Sergeant Michael Keener, investigator at the UWG police department. “Reduce your risk by locking your doors, walking in groups and avoiding poorly lit or isolated areas as you walk around on campus. Recognize when a situation poses a risk to you such as when you are walking alone and a strange starts following you or a date attempts to isolate you or control your movement. Avoid risks by paying attention to your surroundings and changing your behavior to avoid certain situations.”
The UWG police department has also put together several tools available to students for their use. Along with the emergency phones scattered across the campus, the school provides access to Wolf Guardian for their mobile phones.
“This app allows someone to use their phone as an emergency panic button and when pressed your profile will come up in the UWG dispatch office and will let officers know that you are in danger,” Master Sergeant Keener stated. “With GPS enabled phones, it will also attempt to triangulate the location of your cellphone so officers can respond to that area.”
Other services available to students include Wolf Guard, an escort service performed by either an officer or a student employee of the police department should someone feel unsecure about walking to a destination on campus. In addition, rape aggression defense (R.A.D.) classes are made available and are taught by the UWG police department to women. Lastly, Master Sergeant Keener advises students to take out some personal security of their own as a contingency.
“I recommend that students purchase a high quality pepper spray for self-defense purposes,” he said. Pepper spray is not considered a weapon under O.C.G.A. 16.11.127.1 and can be carried on campus.
However, even in the best efforts of avoiding becoming a victim, a person could still fall victim to a crime. Should this happen, Master Sergeant Keener stresses the importance of making a report but insists the report does not bind the victim’s hands to a particular course of action.
“Even in cases where a person is unsure whether they want to seek a prosecution, it is important to gather the evidence in the event they eventually decide to prosecute,” he said. “More often than not, there is a limited window in which to gather evidence of a crime.”
For information on signing up for R.A.D. classes, please contact Master Sergeant Keener at jkeener@westga.edu. For more information on how to set up the Wolf Guardian app, please visit the UWG police website at www.westga.edu/police.
If an emergency occurs, UWG police dispatchers can be reached by dialing 678-839-6000 or by using one of the emergency phones on the campus.
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