The Security & Campus Safety department provides a number of crime-prevention programs to the campus community.

There are several commercial campus crime-prevention video tapes that are available to be viewed or used in conjunction with a crime-prevention presentation by a security officer or a local law- enforcement official.

These videos are general in nature and cover a broad range of crime prevention techniques appropriate for campus situations. There are also self-defense classes available that are taught by trained professionals to provide basic information on avoiding and escaping from an attack.

Bates College offers specialized programs such as our Whistle Alert program that provides a high-quality brass whistle at no cost to each student or employee who requests one. Instructions are given to blow the whistle when an individual feels threatened or is attacked.

Others who hear the whistle blown are to blow their whistles and run in the direction of the original whistle, to provide aid and scare off the attacker. They are also instructed to go to the nearest security phone and notify Security & Campus Safety of the problem.

This is a popular program, and non-college residents in the area are informed about the program so that if they hear a whistle being blown they will know how to respond. Persons blowing the whistle under any other conditions than those specified above are fined $75.

Property protection programs include a bicycle registration program, where bicycles are tagged with a sticker and the serial number logged with Security & Campus Safety, and a property identification program (PIP),where students can check out scribers, engrave their property with their social security number or other identifier and keep a list and description of these items in a safe place.

Other crime-prevention programs include Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) training for women, the computer identification program and other programs being developed that deal with hate crimes, international students and other specific areas of concern.