Working Together for Safety

A continuing partnership between Campus Safety and Security and everyone who lives, works and studies at earlham is the key to a safe campus.

We encourage students, faculty and staff to be responsible for their own safety and the safety of others. Alertness, common sense precautions and concern for others are keys to preventing crime and helping us ensure the safety of our campus. Earlham's Campus Safety and Security Office urges you to be aware of your environment and to maintain the highest possible level of safety within the Earlham Community.

The following information is excerpted from the brochure, "Working Together for Safety." It is available from the Campus Safety and Security Office as part of our collaborative endeavor to ensure the safety and well-being of the campus and to comply with the Campus Security Act. Please read it carefully.

 

 

Reporting Criminal Acts or Emergencies on Campus

Contact Campus Security First! Dial 1400

In the event that you do not get an answer by calling extension 1400, you
may dial 9-939-0129 to speak directly and immediately with an officer.

At the first opportunity, phone or come to Campus Security to report a crime or suspicious incident. During the academic year, reports of crimes or requests for services may be made in person at the Campus Security Office from 8:00 a.m. until midnight, seven days a week.

It is important that all reports be made with Campus Security first. This allows Campus Security to conduct an initial investigation and contact the proper authorities if necessary.

Any emergency involving a threat to personal safety or property should be reported immediately to Campus Security. The caller should stay on the line until the security dispatcher terminates the call - do not hang up. Each incident is documented by a written report. Follow-up counseling services will be arranged by Student Development as needed for the victim.

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Crime Prevention and Community Education

New students are introduced to learning safe personal habits during New Student Week when the Director of Campus Security discusses safety issues. All new students receive brochures on personal safety, rape prevention and crime prevention. Although the possibility of crime exists, educational programs and precautionary measures can make a difference. Since rape crimes often go unreported, special New Student Week programs encourage first-year students to recognize "date rape" and overcome their fears of reporting such crimes.

Working with Residential Life, Campus Security sponsors annual educational sessions on topics including personal safety awareness and security, rape prevention, and the prevention of burglary and vandalism. Emphasis is placed on teaching students to be responsible for one another to ensure the safety of the Earlham community. The Director of Campus Security helps train residential staff on how to recognize crimes when they occur, informs them about drug use, and helps the residential staff develop a sense of social responsibility toward others in the campus community.

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Crime and Safety Alerts

Crime or Safety Alerts are issued by Campus Security for potentially dangerous situations. Posted in prominent places on campus, these alerts may be emailed and/or placed in mailboxes of students and faculty.

Campus Security provides information on safety and security to students and employees through seminars, films, bulletins, crime alerts, posters, brochures and the weekly faculty/staff newsletter. In addition, the Director of Campus Security assists with a weekly column for The Word, Earlham's student newspaper. This column identifies the type, location and time of each incident reported to Campus Security as well as relevant crime prevention information.

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Medical Emergencies

If you are on campus, dial extension 1400 or 9-939-0129 to speak with an officer immediately. If you are off campus, dial 911 for immediate assistance.

Accurate information about the injured or ill person and the exact location must be given to the Campus Security dispatcher for an appropriate emergency response. The College relies on Reid Hospital and Rural/Metro Ambulance for emergency medical first-aid treatment and transportation to the hospital.

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Key Control

Campus Security issues keys only to academic buildings and non-student housing facilities. Keys to all residence halls and off-campus student houses are distributed by Residence Life. All key and lock work orders originate with Campus Security and must be approved by the Director of Campus Security.

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Access to College Facilities

The general public is welcome to attend cultural and recreational events on campus, with their access limited to the particular event's facilities. Community Groups may be granted the use of College facilities upon application to the Conference Office. Such groups are subject to all College policies.

Campus Security will issue keys or admit a specific individual or group to a building after hours on weekends or holidays only if the Campus Security Office has received a written request from a faculty member before the date the facility is to be used. Authorized persons must not allow others to enter. Access to Earlham College facilities is restricted to students, employees and guests of the College. Campus Security Officers will request to see Earlham ID cards of all individuals using a campus facility after hours.

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Campus Housing Safety Tips

Personal safety is everyone's responsibility. You must assume responsibility for your own personal safety and the security of your personal belongings by taking simple, common sense precautions. Many crimes occur simply because an opportunity permitted them to happen. If each student takes a few reasonable precautions to enhance personal safety, student-to-student crime will be greatly reduced.

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Steps to Help Prevent Room Thefts

  1. Lock your residence hall room. Open doors are invitations. Most incidents of theft from residence halls occur when a room is unlocked. Keep your residence hall room locked at all times even if you will be out for just a minute. Lock your door even if you're only going to the bathroom or the room next door. Be sure to lock your door when leaving a roommate asleep inside.
  2. Put billfolds, purses, jewelry and other valuables in a safe place in your room. Leaving them out and unattended makes them an easy mark.
  3. Never loan out your room key or have your room key duplicated.
  4. Engrave all valuable items with your driver's license number and keep a record of all valuables with descriptions and serial numbers.
  5. Report to the area director all doors, locks and windows needing repair.
  6. Report all thefts to Campus Security immediately.
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Access to Residence Halls

All residence halls have a card access system that helps increase the security for student residents. Students, teaching faculty and administrative faculty with encoded ID cards are afforded access to specific doors from 7:00 a.m. until midnight every day. From midnight until 7:00 a.m. only the ID cards issued to those students assigned as building residents permit access to that residence hall.

Doors not providing ID card access allow egress only. An alarm sounds if one of these doors is propped open. Residents are encouraged to help keep all doors closed.

Campus phones outside each residence hall provide access to residents or to Campus Security in case of an emergency.

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Unknown Visitors in the Residence Hall

  1. Do not prop exterior residence hall doors.
  2. Make it a point to get to know the staff in your residence hall, especially your area director.
  3. Report any suspicious-looking individuals who you do not feel belong in your residence hall or any unusual incidents in and around the residence hall to Campus Security.
  4. Do not allow door-to-door sales people to enter your room. College policy prohibits anyone from soliciting on campus.
  5. Do not take in an overnight guest whom you do not know.
  6. Be careful what you write on your message board. Memo boards on your door are great for communicating with friends but you should avoid announcing where you will be or when you will return.
  7. Carry a whistle with you at all times; use it if you find yourself in trouble.
  8. Try to take showers only when there are other residents on your hall.
  9. If a stranger calling on the phone asks "Who is this?", do not give your name. Ask instead, "Who are you calling?" or "What number are you calling?" If you receive nuisance, obscene or prank phone calls, do not engage in conversation. Calmly hang up and immediately notify Campus Security.
  10. Attend Campus Security-sponsored programs on personal safety and property protection. The most important thing to remember about safety and security is to use common sense.
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