Personal Safety

Middlebury can offer the following suggestions about personal safety issues. These are, of course, only general observations; you must decide what is most prudent for keeping yourself and your property safe in particular situations. 

Individuals who are harmed as the result of a crime are not responsible for the actions of people who commit crimes, who are accountable for their crimes and the outcomes of their actions. 

The only true way to eliminate crimes is for those who commit them not to do so. The following safety guidelines are intended to provide supportive ideas but no way intended to outline doing or not doing any of these things will ultimately prevent a crime from happening.

General Guidelines

• Be aware of your vulnerability; follow the measures of self-protection and property protection outlined here.
• Be alert for suspicious or criminal activity and for conditions that may represent hazards to the community.
• Get involved by becoming more security conscious and by reporting all incidents of suspicious or criminal activity, no matter how insignificant they may appear, immediately to Public Safety.
• Remember that unreported crimes cannot be solved. This allows the perpetrators to commit additional, and possibly more serious, crimes.

Walking or Running Safety

• Avoid traveling alone at night. Instead, travel in pairs.
• Avoid dark, vacant, or deserted areas; use well-lit, regularly traveled pathways. Runners, walkers, or joggers should face traffic. If you’re out after dark, use extra precautions: stay in pairs, travel well-lit areas, and wear reflective clothing or tape.
• Don’t display expensive jewelry or carry large amounts of cash.
• Always let someone know where you are going and when you will return.
• Be alert and aware of your surroundings at all times. Walk purposefully and confidently. Keep moving.
• Do not hitchhike or accept rides from casual acquaintances.
• When walking to your residence or vehicle, keep your keys in hand.
• When a private vehicle or taxi drops you off at your residence, ask the driver to wait until you get inside.
• If you are threatened by an approaching vehicle, run in the opposite direction. The vehicle will have to turn around to follow you.
• If you think you’re being followed or feel threatened, increase your pace and move away from the threat; join any group of people nearby; cross the street, and, if necessary, keep crossing back and forth. If someone pursues you, run to a business, residence, or well-lit area. Call for help, scream, or raise a commotion. Enlist the aid of a passerby. Find a phone and dial 911 or pull a fire alarm. Do anything that will attract attention or summon assistance. If you are walking alone and someone passes you, check to make sure that person is continuing to walk in the other direction.
• If you are confronted by an assailant, yell and struggle. Assess the situation and call for help.

Residence Halls and Private Residences

• Lock your room door and windows when you go to sleep or when you leave, even if only briefly; take your keys with you.
• Do not share your key code with others. Contact Residential Life and Public Safety immediately if you have concerns that others may have your code.
• Immediately report defective locks on your windows and doors to Housing or Public Safety.
• If you carry keys, do not put your name and/or address on key rings.
• Don’t keep your residence and your vehicle keys on the same ring.
• Do not attach vehicle or other keys to your ID card.
• On-campus residents should immediately notify the Department of Public Safety if they lose their keys.
• Faculty with college rentals in Middlebury should notify Facilities Services for lock changes.
• Do not linger in poorly lit, secluded areas.
• Require visitors to identify themselves before you open your door. Request official identification from all repair or service personnel.
• Get to know your neighbors so you can help one another.
• If you discover someone has entered your room, DO NOT GO IN. Go to a neighbor and call Public Safety (for College housing) or the local law enforcement authorities (for private residences). If you’re already inside, DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING. You may disturb evidence important to a police investigation.
• If you are awakened by an intruder, do not try to apprehend them. They may be armed or may easily arm themselves with something in your room. Attempt to get out of the room if it is possible.
• If you see a suspicious person or vehicle, either on campus or in your neighborhood, IMMEDIATELY contact Public Safety or the local law enforcement authorities. Try to get the license plate number, state, and description of the vehicle, but do not chase the car to do so.
• Do not prop open doors to residence halls or other College buildings.
• People outside the College community are prohibited from soliciting in residence halls. If you see an outside solicitor in the dorms, immediately report this to Public Safety.
• Do not yell or attempt to detain voyeurs or anyone you observe looking into a private space. If the offender runs away, and you can safely observe this person, watch to see if this person gets into a car, goes to another residence, etc. Also observe the person’s physical bearing. Then immediately report the incident to Public Safety or to the police.
• Hang up on obscene, harassing, or annoying phone calls. Do not respond to harassing text messages, nor try to find out who the caller is even if you think it’s a friend playing a joke. Keep the message or text and then report its contents to Public Safety. This will be useful to the Public Safety Officer or the police, if there is a police report.

Use of Athletic Facilities

• Avoid using the athletic facilities alone, especially after dark or during off hours.
• Use the buddy system. Work out with a friend, and go to and from the gym together.
• Confine your running and jogging to the daylight hours and to well-traveled areas. If jogging on the roads, wear bright colored clothes.
• Avoid showering alone in the locker room. Or shower back at your residence.
• Avoid bringing cash, wallets, watches, or other valuables to the athletic facilities. Don’t leave valuables unattended, in unlocked lockers, or in coat rack areas.
• Keep your locker locked whenever unattended. This includes those times you leave to shower, visit the trainer, the equipment room, etc. Most thefts at the athletic facilities stem from unlocked lockers or property left unsecured in the locker-room area.

In the locker room:

• If there’s someone with you in the locker room, and you feel comfortable doing so, ask them to wait for you, so you’ll not be showering alone.
• Immediately report all incidents of voyeurism to Public Safety.
• If you encounter an intruder:
  • Call loudly for help. Your call for assistance should carry into the hallway.
  • Keep out of the intruder’s way, and don’t attempt to prevent the intruder from leaving.
  • Try to exit the locker room quickly.
  • Observe the intruder so you can later describe the person.
  • Immediately notify the police by calling 911 and Public Safety at 802-443-5911.

Use of Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs)

• Try to use ATMs during daylight hours.
• If you must go at night, do not go alone.
• Avoid ATMs that are not well lit or clearly visible from the street.
• Be aware of people loitering or sitting in cars around ATMs
• Prepare your transaction ahead of time. Do not spend a lot of time at the machine.
• Do not give out your Personal Identification Number (PIN). Memorize it and do not keep a written copy of it in your wallet.
• Either keep your ATM receipt or tear it up well and throw it away in a location far from the ATM machine. Thieves can acquire valuable information from these receipts, such as your account number and your balance.