Students should know their surroundings and be vigilant, walk in pairs, know where the emergency notification systems are on campus, avoid strangers, never walk alone at night and immediately report suspicious activity. 

These are five tips offered by Point Park’s Chief of Police Jeffery Besong for students to avoid becoming victims in a city that has had instances of violent crime. 

“You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality,” said Jeffrey D. Besong in an email interview Feb. 4. 

There have been murders, sex offenses, robberies, assaults, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts on or around the Downtown campus over the past three years, according to the federally mandated Clery Act, which forces all universities who receive federal funding to make annual reports on crime on campus and in the nearby environs.

Students who are signed up for Point Park’s “PointALERT” system receive text messages whenever a crime such as these is reported on or near campus. 

That makes students like Heverton Reis, a criminal justice major, feel more secure, but he remains wary and never walks alone.

“Crimes do occur around campus because we are Downtown,” Reis said in Academic Hall Feb. 5. “There are plenty of security guards and cops, but it is still bothersome at times.”

For graduate Jessica Marsha, the campus is safe and notifications from police are sufficient.

“I find the University to be doing its part to ensure safety for all members [on] campus,” Marsha said. “It is an urban campus with a higher threat of crime but the security measures taken on campus are of a good level.”

Business management major Cristiane Cnaves feels safe on campus because of the security and camera systems that record virtually every inch of the campus, even though she feels they could sometimes do more.

“They should ask to see the identification cards more often, that way no random people can come into the building,” Cnaves said in the University Center Feb. 5.

Over the past few years, Besong said Point Park has increased other forms of security, improving locks in every building and further restricting access to living areas all over campus. This enables the building residents to have access to the living areas while restricting visitors to the lobby areas. There are also alarms on many doors that go off if they are not closed and latched.

“No one should allow access to buildings to anyone [other] than folks who belong there,” Besong said.