Coming to Uni
Well done on your A Level Results and for receiving a place within one of the Universities within the West Midlands - home to some of the UK’s most prominent universities. Not only is the area a great place to study, but it also offers everything a student could want from nights on the town to nights of fine culture and fine food. It is also, importantly, a relatively safe place to study. However, students here and across the country can be vulnerable to crime for many reasons. Consider, for example, the number of valuable items that you will be bringing and then multiply that by the number of students you will be sharing your accommodation with; also consider that you are moving to an area that you may not be familiar with and whilst all of the West Midlands’ University campuses are generally safe, they are (as with any educational institution) very open to the public and some of these are not there to study!
We know that crime isn’t on the top of your list to consider (and why should it be!), but whilst West Midlands Police are here to help you and there are police officers designated to all the main campus sites (see university contacts), you can also help to prevent yourself from becoming the victim of crime. We will be about during Freshers/Welcome Week to talk to you and to hand out some freebies, but before you arrive we would ask you to consider doing the following things:
- Ensure you have suitable insurance for your possessions. Property mark your valuables and record their details, e.g. serial numbers, and makes/models & your mobile phone’s IMEI number (press *#06# and this number will display on your handset). If the item is valuable or unique consider taking a photograph of it. Also register them on the national property database www.immobilise.com – it is a free database and is currently the only one that the majority of police forces share their crime information with.
- Buy a couple of timer switches to fit to lamps and radios to create the illusion that you are still in your flat/house when you have gone out.
- If you are bringing a bike with you, make sure you have a good quality D-Lock (look for ones marked as being ‘Sold Secure’) as significantly the vast majority of bikes stolen from University Campuses have been locked with chains/combination locks and even the thickest of these can be cut through with bolt croppers
- If you are bringing a car invest in a good quality steering wheel lock (again one that is ‘Sold Secure’ or Thatcham tested e.g. ‘Disklok’).
- If you have an iPod, it is better to replace the white earphones with a standard black colour, and If you are bringing a laptop use a rucksack rather than a standard laptop bag to carry it in. These measures will help reduce the ‘advertising your property’ factor.
- Check out our Safer Students Website and the NUS website, ‘The Lock’
