Currently there are many day-to-day culture changes on our minds and in our routine due to the spread of COVID-19. However, have you consciously thought about keeping you and your property safe lately? There can be a lot of to remember to maintain your personal safety, in addition to our due diligence of wearing masks and social distancing during a pandemic.
Lock it, Hide it, and Hold It.
Several burglaries and thefts from cars have been reported at the beginning of this year not just in Chattanooga, but across the country. All it takes is a few minutes for a single criminal to check an entire parking lot of cars if they are unlocked. To help prevent crimes, we should all remind ourselves and roommates to lock our doors, hide our valuables, and hold our property by keeping it with us. No matter how inconvenient it may be or how long you may be gone, there will be someone who will take advantage of an opportunity. If you see somebody wandering around a parking lot checking multiple cars at a time, please report the suspicious individual or activity to our Police Department, 423-425-4357, or 9-1-1.
Know your Surroundings and How to Find Help
When new to a city campus there are difficulties knowing where things may be that just take experience to learn, but how can you learn about the lesser known safety resources on campus? Many emergency situations can depend upon knowing where help can be found, do the following to help remind yourself: take 2-3 minutes to look where Emergency blue light phones are located on your daily commute on campus, add our Police Department number (423-425-4357) as a contact to your phone, plan to walk in groups across campus at night, and check on friends that may travel across campus alone.
Our new online UTC map has a Safety category that locates what Emergency Services has to offer; AEDs, areas of refuge, emergency phones, just to name a few. In addition, the Campus Safety Tour, under the Tour Section, shows all aspects of safety resources at UTC.