General Safety Tips

Safety of our students and employees is a top priority at Mizzou. Take steps to protect yourself and help others. RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) provides helpful tips for staying safe on campus, including:

• Know your resources. Who should you contact if you or a friend needs help? Where should you go? Locate resources related to medical care and emergency services, like MUPD and University Hospital. Notice where emergency phones are located on campus and add important numbers to your cell phone for quick access.
• Stay alert. When you are moving around campus or nearby areas, be aware of your surroundings. Consider inviting a friend to join you or asking campus security for an escort. If you are alone, only use headphones in one ear to stay aware of your surroundings.
• Be careful about posting your location. Many social media sites have features that publicly share your location. Consider disabling those functions and reviewing other social media settings.
• Get to know people. A college environment can foster a false sense of security with fast friends. Take the time to learn and get to know the people around you; build trust and community.
• Plan ahead. Spend some time thinking about back-up plans for potentially sticky situations. If your phone dies, do you have a few numbers memorized to get help? Do you have emergency cash in case you cannot use a credit card or electronic payment? Do you have your addresses and full names of friends memorized? If you drive, is there a spare key hidden, gas in your car, and a set of jumper cables?
• Be secure. Lock your door and windows when you are asleep and when you leave your room or apartment.

Citation: RAINN (learn more)

Bystander Intervention

Be aware of your surroundings. If you see someone in danger or observe a potentially harmful situation, intervene if you can. If you see something, say something. There are various options for intervening:

• Be direct. Ask the person if they need help or remove them from the situation by calling their attention to you or motioning for them to join you, away from the threat. If feel able and safe doing so, depending on the situation, consider inserting yourself verbally and expressing concern for the situation to the parties involved.
• Create a distraction. Call or text the person to catch their attention, make noise or cause a commotion to divert attention, or ask a question. Interrupt the dangerous sequence, even if indirectly, and give the person a chance to remove themselves from the situation.
• Ask for help. Gathers others nearby who can help with intervention and/or call law enforcement or security, if needed.