Safety blanket: Security measures reach campuswide

It's almost midnight on a Sun­day night and you're still in the library writing that paper. You've had three cups of cof­fee to drink but you can't stop yawning. You decide it's prob­ably smart to get some sleep. On the walk back to Stonewall, you hear leaves crunching be­hind you. You turn around but no one is there. You walk a few more feet and hear a branch snap.

Someone is definitely follow­ing you. What do you do?

Pam Moffatt-Limoges, In­terim Director of Public Safety, recommends you run to the nearest blue light to call for help. "Around campus we have 30 emergency phones. We call them the blue phones. They are strategically placed in areas, such as the walking path over by MNS or down near Lot A, the commuter lot," Moffat-Limoges said. "They're there so if a student doesn't have a cell phone on them and they find themselves in fear or they're be­ing attacked, there is usually a blue phone near by so they can call public safety for help." Pub­lic Safety officers are on duty around the clock; students can observe them patrolling the campus in vehicles, on foot, or on bikes.

If Public Safety is not around and a student does observe someone fall or get attacked, it's imperative find a blue phone, Moffatt-Limoges said.

"We treat everything from al­lergic bee stings or a skateboard accident. We have nine EMTs on campus. They are also Public Safety officers," Moffatt-Limo­ges said. "The reason we have them is so that when we have a medical problem on campus, they are a first-responder. They do an assessment and if the per­son needs further evaluation, they can transport them to the hospital or something."

You finally get home safely and head right to bed. The next morning while you're in a dead sleep, a siren abruptly wakes you up. This is known as the Cooper Notification system.

"It's an early warning siren system, so say there's a lighten­ing storm on the water, we have one loud speaker down on top of maple and one down near north campus. It sends out a voice message telling people to stay away from the water," Mof­fatt-Limoges said.

Along with the siren, students will receive a text, e-mail, and a phone call, warning them of the possible threat. This is known as Connect-Ed. Every incoming freshman is placed on Connect-Ed along with their emergency contact, such as a parent. It's an easy way to communicate with thousands of people during emergency situations.

After a late night and a rocky morning, you head to the atri­um in GHH to grab a coffee and relax. You scroll through your e-mails and see a new one from the Vice President of Stu­dent Affairs, John King. It was sent to all students informing them of an assault that hap­pened on campus. You may have been unsettled by the mes­sage, but there was a reason be­hind the e-mail.

"It's a timely warning. If some­thing happens on campus where there is a threat to students, a timely warning needs to go out," Moffatt-Limoges said.

Luckily for you, who wants to learn means of defending your­self against an aggressor, Roger Williams University holds an annual crime prevention fair.

"We send out safety tips fre­quently. We try to continually educate the whole community. Sometimes you forget, because you feel so comfortable in your dorm or library, that you walk away to use the bathroom and leave your laptop, and you come back and it's gone and suddenly you're a victim of theft," Mof­fatt-Limoges said.

The next morning, as you en­ter through the main entrance to head to class, a Public Safety officer stops you. He makes friendly small talk but really, he is doing much more than that. Public Safety officers are check­ing to see if you have a sticker on your car that indicates whether you are a commuter, faculty, or staff member. Public Safety officers are trained to no­tice when someone strange is on campus or something out of the ordinary is going on.

At the end of the day, no stu­dent should feel unsafe know­ing all of the safety precautions that Public Safety has imple­mented.