Event-packed Safety Week focuses on ways to stay safe

Students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to learn tips on staying healthy and safe on and off campus during UWM’s Campus Safety Week Sept. 23-27.

On Monday, the main day for Safety Week events, the UW-Milwaukee Police Department will hold demonstrations at Spaights Plaza, 2380 E. Kenwood Blvd., just north of the UWM Student Union.

UWM Safewalker Olivia Olson helps students gets across Maryland Avenue safely. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., campus police will offer CPR and defibrillator demonstrations, as well as hands-on fire extinguisher and safety training exercises. Visitors can also chat with the Milwaukee Police and Fire departments; learn more about campus resources, such as the Women’s Resource Center, the LGBT Resource Center, B.O.S.S. (Be On the Safe Side) vans, and the Norris Health Center; and sign up for self-defense classes and the Rave Guardian app.

Rave Guardian is a campus safety app for students, faculty and staff. It contains the numbers for campus and local police departments, and through the app users can request a S.A.F.E. walker, place an emergency call, report crimes and get safety alerts. The UWM Police Department can also see the user’s location when using the app or placing an emergency call. Users can even share their walking route with friends, family and the UWM Police Department with a new feature, the safety timer.

The safety timer allows users to invite someone they trust or a “guardian” to track their trip progress. Users can share their location and set a timer for their guardian to see. Once the user reaches their destination, they can deactivate the timer, which their guardian will see. If timer runs out of time without deactivation, the guardian will see that as well.

Events continue Wednesday, Sept. 25, with mental health awareness events, a bystander intervention workshop and active-shooter training.

On Friday, the African American Faculty and Staff Council and campus police will host a school supply drive for Milwaukee’s LaFollette School.

Safety Week pushes into the next week for National Coffee with a Cop Day on Wednesday, Oct. 2 in the Student Union.

Like last year, this year’s theme will be “Together We are Safe,” as the community continues to grow more aware of safety measures.

“Our numbers are getting better,” said Craig Rafferty, community liaison officer for the UWM Police Department. “So together we really are safe.”

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