Today I went to the Freshers Fair at De Montfort University in Leicester to offer crime prevention advice to new students.
It is an unfortunate fact that the freshers can become targets for criminals. They are unfamiliar with the city of Leicester, are often not used to living away from their family home and may have new and valuable IT equipment, bikes and other easily stolen goods. There are also those who will target young women for harrasment or assault. That is why I joined two of Leicestershire Police's finest PCSOs to offer safety advice to the new students arriving at Freshers Fair. The stand we had was busy all day long with a constant stream of students coming to ask advice, or to bag our freebie give aways.
Always popular were the carboard policeman's helmets - we believe in making safety advice fun, not frightening - and the anti drink spiking covers were snapped up. Bells to fasten to purses and bags were also popular, and the fact that there is police constable permanently stationed on the campus came as welcome news to many of the students.
You can see a short video about how the drink covers work HERE.
All in all it was a worthwhile visit which will, hopefully, help to keep the new students safe and drive down crime in the city.
