I was searching on amazon for a safety device for my daughter because she just started college and said there have already been some muggings on students this year.
I found a safety device called a RoboCopp and I was wondering if anyone else had encountered it before? My girl friend said she had got one for her daughter, and that it basically just makes a loud siren to scare off someone that is attacking you.
Wondering if anyone has any experience or knows of this thing working?
I just saw the company also has a 911 connected version out.
I would just feel better knowing my daughter had something with her, rather than nothing. And her campus doesn’t allow pepper spray.
I went to a talk by the head of a campus police department, and his opinion was that students never actually carry this stuff with them when they might need it. He encouraged parents to have their students program the phone number for the safe escort into their phone, learn to travel across campus safely (as in no headphones on when walking alone, no walking alone late at night) and sign up for a self-defense class.
@siliconvalleymom I like the idea of programming the safe escort into her phone. That is a great idea.
My only issue with the phone is this: how many times has your own phone run out of battery? Mine is about to run out right now and it’s only 2pm, so I don’t see my daughter’s phone being dependable at all hours Similar to @intparent I know even if my daughter SAYS she won’t walk alone after dark, that she’ll probably end up doing it anyway
My daughter herself was actually the one expressing interest in carrying something, so maybe it’s been a while since the campus pd has talked to students? When I look around the website, it seems like a fair amount of students use it.
I think the idea of learning the campus paths is a really good one, and not wearing headphones. I’ve heard criminals will pick out people who walk less confidently or look less aware of their surroundings.
My daughter carries a college-issued rape whistle. But like intparent’s daughter, she does some unsafe stuff, like running at night on campus. Her campus is generally very safe, though, and when she leaves to go off campus, she’s usually with friends.
Of course, if they are fast, then they can more easily get away from an attacker who does not have a gun – if they can get out of reach and are faster than the attacker, they can run away.
In terms of whistles, cell phone app noisemakers, etc., if one is able to use such a thing when under threat, wouldn’t one be able to yell and scream more easily?
Our daughter has pepper spray but I suspect it is in her footlocker instead of her purse. Her school is in a rather dodgy city. She and her friends always walk in groups at night, or take the campus shuttle service which is excellent. There is also a very late night transportation or escort service (depending on distance) that students can call.
“In terms of whistles, cell phone app noisemakers, etc., if one is able to use such a thing when under threat, wouldn’t one be able to yell and scream more easily?”
Most people can’t scream as loud as safety/rape whistles. The good ones are very high decibel.
Of course she will walk alone after dark. In a couple of weeks, it will be dark before 5 p.m. She wouldn’t be able to function if she always needed to find a companion to go to dinner or to evening activities.
I’ve just been Googling around because I had assumed that all of the safe walks services started at dusk. I am surprised to find that some colleges have services that begin at 9 pm or 10 pm.
I don’t understand running alone at night in the dark. Why aren’t these students running with a buddy or working out in the gym?
That assumes that your buddy has similar speed and endurance that you have, and always can and wants to run at the same time you do. The gym may require running or walking to if it is not adjacent to where you live.
I read somewhere that a combination of a blinding (tactical) flashlight and mace was best for students. We did look into it but never followed through. I need to do that.
Ucbalumnus, women should never assume they can outrun. Nor that the only situations are those where you even get the opportunity to dart away. False confidence is a problem.
And frankly, in a crisis, I wouldn’t have the lung power to blow any whistle. I’d suggest some device where they just push a button and it alarms, loud and shrill.
To use a tactical flashlight very effectively as a blinding device could require as much presence-of-mind (if not training) as using a firearm. One that is large enough to be a very effective striking weapon would be bulky to carry around in a holster or purse. But then, a super-bright, multi-mode, non-tactical LED flashlight that is small enough to carry conveniently would be hard to fish out and turn on quickly in an emergency, especially on a cold night with gloves on.
Still, the smaller multi-mode LED flashlights (made by Fenix, Thrunite, Nitecore, Olight, etc.) can be useful tools to have in your car, apartment, or backpack. In some scenarios (like a car accident or break-down) they can be used as strobing emergency beacons (in addition to illuminating a flat tire or a dark stairwell). Their “user interfaces” do make them more complicated than an old-fashioned, on-and-off, filament bulb flashlight. I’ve seen at least one model with bluetooth connectivity, in case you have the urge to check your flashlight battery levels from your smart phone.
Also get your child the book “The Gift of Fear” by Gavin DeBecker. The book provides strategies to help readers avoid trauma and violence by teaching them various warning signs and precursors to violence.
This would be “education about street sense” as @thumper1 mentioned.
I tend to think that a push-button device attached to her keys would be the thing most likely to be available and usable in a crisis.
When I walked home from the library late at night at the U of C decades ago, I’d walk in the middle of the street gripping my keys so that they stuck out between my fingers. Probably would have done no good, but I felt safer. Someone I knew then was beaten by a few thugs who accosted her and her housemates when they were walking home together in a group of 5. They grabbed her and started beating her until her friends handed over their wallets. They broke her jaw. So much for safety in numbers…
I suppose the question is now whether students even have a key, or whether it is all keycards.
She carries pepper spray.
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