Campus police request vigilance from students

By Jeanette Barrow
jbarrow1@mscd.edu

Photo by Emily Varisco • varisco@mscd.edu

Officer Leonard Peete explains the details of a Rape Aggression Defense course Thursday, April 13 in the Tivoli Turnhalle. The first class is free and only open to women.

    In light of the recent assaults on campus, students and staff should be aware of ways to ensure personal safety, Auraria Police Chief Heather Coogan said at a Safe Campus event Thursday.
   “ We recently had two assaults on campus, which we are taking very seriously,” Chief    Heather Coogan told the audience at the Tivoli Turnhalle.
   Coogan said being aware of self-defense techniques can prevent such crimes and encouraged the women in the crowd to enroll in the campus Rape Aggression Defense program.
   “ The second girl that was assaulted had taken the campus RAD class and used those tactics to get away safely,” Coogan said.
The RAD class is free and available to all women on campus. A sign-up sheet was made available at the entrance to the Turnhalle.
   Coogan said students and faculty should always locate the emergency telephones in their respective lots.
   “ They [emergency phones] are in most lots, but people tend to not see them,” she said.
   Students should be familiar with and utilize the Auraria campus phone numbers, which Coogan said allow for a quicker response-time than dialing 911 from a cell phone.
“ A big thing we are announcing is the new additional campus police phone number,” Coogan said.
   The new phone number is (303) 556-5000, which she recommended students program into their cell phones immediately.
   Coogan also suggested the use of the Night Rider program, a service that provides rides to students nervous about walking to their cars at night. The phone number for the Night Rider program is (303) 556-2001.
   After Coogan’s speech there were several hands-on demonstrations available for learning self-defense techniques.
   The demonstrations were put together by RAD, which helped host the Safe Campus event in conjunction with the Auraria Police Department, the Auraria Campus Response Team, Metro’s office of Student Life, and the Auraria Health Center.