Pepper spray/mace

[Tiggeroo]

Do you carry any personal safety item like this. If so what and where did you get it. My dd will be living on campus this semester and I worry about her. She may be coming home from work at night, parking her car and walking by herself into the campus apartments. Not something I'm thrilled with. So besides the millions of talks on safety, i'm thinking of getting her something like this. Any thoughts. How can she learn to use something like this safely.

 

[Octoberbride03]

I don't carry this anymore, but i used to in college. You should be able to find it at a hardware store. They don't cost much and you'll be able to choose what you want as Mace and pepper spray are actually 2 different things. If your local hardware store doesn't have it they probably know where to buy it. Another posibility is your DD's campus store.


Maureen

eta: There are directions on the canisters showing you how to use it. They are very simple. You just flip the top and press the button underneath. After you buy 1 fire it in an open area OUTDOORS to be sure it works. Firing Pepper Spray indoors has been known to set off fire alarms/smoke detectors. Odds are she'll never need to use it. But if she does its very easy. NO classes neccessary.

 

[Margie J]

I used to carry pepper spray with me all the time when I worked in another section of Boston. I bought mine in a neighboring State at K-Mart. Here in MA there are regulations regarding who can purchase and carry pepper spray &/or mace. Carriers must register with the Police.

Learning how to spray the item is essential. If you ever need it you certainly don't want to be fumbling around to find it or spray it incorrectly.

 

[CBRorBust]

This is a very serious issue on every college campus.


At my school, there are police available 24 hours a day to pick you up from your car and take you to your dorm/apt/building on a little golf cart at any time of the day. I keep their number in my cell phone when I know I'll be staying on campus late.

I'm sure your daughters university offers something like this. As far as coming home from work late at night, will she be living with a roommate? My roommate and I would always call each other when we were in the parking lot and meet half way. It stunk at like 2 or 3 am, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

What about Self-Defense for Woman? Does her university offer this at a P.E. Credit? Mace/Pepperspray are great to have! They even sell ones that attach to your keychain.

I hope this helps.

 

[Tiggeroo]

I will call the school to see what is offered. Her school has it's own police department, with it's own station on campus. This is good because of the safety it offers, but it's also bad. In the local paper they list the crimes commited in that week. By having their own department college crimes are not published. I would like to know how much problem they have. She is planning on staying in the campus apartments. These are much nicer then the dorms, and since they have their own entrance in some ways safer. But their location is further from the college and more isolated. I am going to go out their this week to eyeball it up. She is thinking of getting a job in an area restaurant, which would mean coming home late. She doesn't really need the money, so I am going to encourage her to take something that will mean less late hours. Because of night classes, coming home at like 8 or so it would not be empty, but at 1am it will be.

 

[caitycaity]

you may want to check with the school university police department first. i know in some cities it is illegal to carry mace/pepper spray unless you are law enforcement or meet certain requirements.

our campus paper publishes crime on campus, hers might too, and if not get the student government/campus papaer to work with upd to get them to. we were able to lobby successfully for that on our campus.

also, our university had a thing called 4-ride that would pick you up and bring your back to campus after hours, as long as the location was reasonably close to campus. maybe her school has something like that too.

you may get further with the student services/student activities office rather than the police department directly. at my school the upd people on the phones are not always the most helpful.

 

[battricia]

Which school is your daughter going to, if i may ask? I went to temple university in philadelphia which is known as an area for high crime, however the school is known as one of the safest campuses in the country. I never lived on campus so i traveled through a ruff area to get to and from school every day. I never had any problems. The campus is lit VERY well so you're never in a dark spot. Like someone else mentioned, there should be an escort program offered, and it usually goes something like 'dial *11 (or whatever number) from any campus phone to contact the escort service, and they will come get you/walk with you to where you need to go. I never used the service, however I would advise that if there is a time when your daughter feels unsafe, to use the service. Campuses also have a blue light service type thing, wherever you see a blue light (or red or whichever your school offers) there is a phone that will connect you straight to the campus police. They are usually ALL OVER campus. Tell your daughter to be aware of each blue light for the areas she travels, also tell her not to walk the same path every day, sometimes this can be a problem (if someone sees her walking the same way every night, it makes her more accessable and predictable). If your school has their own police department, this is a good thing. It means they have a quota of how many police need to be on duty at one time, and that the people working for them aren't just security guards that can't carry a gun, and might not have the experience or abilty to manage a situation that might be dangerous.

I never carried mace/pepper spray, but if your daughter feels more safe and confident in carrying it, then you should get her some.