Safety Tips & Guidelines

Safety Tips

Keeping our university environment safe and secure requires the cooperation of all campus community members.

• Lock your office whenever you leave it for any length of time.
• Adequately protect all valuables in your office, such as purses, wallets, and computers. Do not leave valuables or cash in plain view.
• Do not loan your keys to anyone.
• When in a public place, keep valuable items in your possession, out of sight, or in a safe place. If you must leave an area for any length of time, take personal items with you.
• Avoid working alone in a campus building.
• Do not assume an unfamiliar person is a visitor or student. Call the Public Safety Office at 5-4404 immediately.

Bicycle Safety, Security, & Registration

As temperatures begin rising and more individuals begin using their bicycles as primary sources of transportation to and from the university, it becomes important to follow several safety recommendations to ensure your bike is there when you need it.

• Lock your bicycle: Never leave your bicycle unlocked or unattended. We recommend that all bicycles be secured to bike racks located throughout the campus using a Kryptonite - shaped lock. The lock should be large enough to fit around the bike frame and both bicycle wheels, and the bike rack. If possible, secure bicycles in your room at night.
• Secure your bicycle: If using a - shaped lock, remove the front wheel and secure both wheels with the bike frame to secure bike rack located throughout the campus. It is important to minimize the amount of space left unoccupied once the lock has placed as gaps increase the possibility for the lock to be pried open and you bicycle removed. If you use a cable lock, make sure the cable is placed through the frame, both wheels, and bike rack.
• Remove loose or easily removed bicycle components. Computers, tool bags, headlights, and bike seats are just a few examples of extra accessories often reported stolen when they are left attached to bikes. These items are easy to remove and make quick targets for thieves.
• Engrave your bicycle: Although all bicycles are pre-engraved with a serial number used by the bike manufacturer, it is recommended that you also engrave on the frame your name or drive's license number and keep a record, describing your bicycle and its serial numbers. The Campus Public Safety Office provides assistance with property engravings throughout the year.
• Register your bicycle: Campus Public Safety offers FREE online Property Registration to all students, faculty, and staff. You will need the make, model, size, color, serial number, and any owner applied number(s) to register your bike.

Without your help, Campus Public Safety can not ensure the safety of your bicycle or its components. Questions regarding bicycle issues on campus can be directed to Campus Public Safety at 503-725-4407.

Building Security

The university is a state institute and buildings are open to the public. Report all suspicious activity (sounds, persons, events) immediately to the Public Safety Office at 503-725-4404.

• Notify the Public Safety Office regarding any safety hazards (burned out lights in hallways or stairwells, inoperative doors, broken windows, malfunctioning elevators).
• Do not enter a dark building: Call Public Safety at 503-725-4407 and wait for an officer to advise you whether you will be permitted to enter the building.
• Always walk in pairs or in groups: Please call the 24-hour Public Safety Escort Service at 503-725-4407, if you feel the need for an escort. Please use the Public Safety Escort Service rather than walk alone at night on campus. In addition the Woman's Union also provides a similar escort service called Safewalk, which can be reached at 503-725-9255.
• Know the location of the nearest emergency blue light signal or call box to your residence hall, study room, practice room, classroom, parking lot, etc.
• Know the locations of all the campus telephones in every building.
• Know the names and locations of all campus buildings.

Telephone Harassment

The Campus Public Safety Office wants you to know that using the telephone to make obscene, threatening, or harassing calls to another person is against the law.

The law (ORS 166.090) addresses the crime of telephone harassment. Telephone harassment occurs when the caller intentionally harasses or annoys another person by ringing the person's telephone while having no communicative purpose or, after having been told not to do so, continues to call the receiving telephone.

In other words, the first call may not always constitute telephone harassment. Subsequent calls are telephone harassment if the caller has been forbidden to make the calls. All calls of an inappropriate nature should be reported immediately.

Threatening phone calls are addressed under a different statute (ORS 166.065). In this case you do not have to receive further phone calls before you can report it as a crime to Campus Public Safety.

Definitions:

• Obscene: such calls can be considered harassing phone calls under the telephone harassment statute.
• Harassing: hang-up calls or annoyance calls.
• Threatening: Involve threats of bodily harm, kidnapping, property damage, etc.

What to Do:

• Always attempt to inform the caller he/she is not to call you again
• If no one answers you after you have said hello twice, or if the caller says something inappropriate, tell the caller he/she is not to call again, then hang up.
• Never give any information unless you are absolutely certain you know to whom you are speaking.
• If you are alone, do not reveal that fact to the caller.
• Instruct any children to never give any information to strangers over the phone.

For all complaints of inappropriate telephone use or telephone harassment here on campus or at on-campus housing, we request the complainant contact us for action.

Complainants will be afforded the following options:

• Immediate change in service number
• Assist in an investigative effort

Credit/ATM-Debit Card Protection

When using a credit card to make purchases make sure that you have been given back your card once the transaction has been completed.

• With your credit card slip being filled out, making sure that your card is not passed through the charge machine more than once.
• Destroy all out-of-date cards. Either shred them or use scissors to cut them up into several small pieces.
• Destroy all carbon copies from your credit card purchases. Do no simply throw them in the garage.
• Make a list of your credit cards, atm/debit cards, their account numbers, expiration dates, and phone numbers to call if they are lost or stolen. Keep this list separate from your purse/wallet.
• Periodically take inventory of your cards to make sure you have them all.
• Notify your bank or credit card institution as soon as you notice that your card has been lost, stolen or misplaced.

Identity Theft Protection

The following tips can be used to prevent identity theft from happening to you.

• Do not give out personal information over the phone, through the mail, or over the internet, unless you have initiated the contact.
• Shred all documents, including pre-approved credit applications received in your name, insurance forms, and statements.
• Do not use your mother's maiden name, birth date, the last four digits of your social security number, or any series of numbers as passwords.
• Minimize the identification information and the number of credit cards you carry.
• Do not carry your social security card, birth certificate, or passport, unless necessary.
• When expecting a new credit card through the mail, make sure you get the card(s) within the appropriate time.
• Do not put your credit card number on the internet unless it is encrypted using a secured site.
• Order a copy of your credit report twice a year. Reports should be obtained from all three major sources: Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion
• To learn more go to the Federal Trade Commission website.

Demonstration Guidelines

At Portland State University, we strive to provide out students, staff, and faculty a place that is conductive to the needs of everyone. It is one of the goals of the University to allow its students the ability to experience the open communication of ideas by putting them in contact with a varied and uncensored range of public forums and demonstrations. We feel that the free exchange of those diverse ideas, to include those that are uncommon, upsetting, and sometimes offensive is vital to the continuing goals of the University. With this in mind, the following guidelines have been established to permit this free exchange of often diverse ideas to continue.

• Promoting Free Expression
  Procedures have been established by Portland State University, in keeping with the University’s goals, that promote the free expression of individual ideas through the reservation of open spaces and other facilities for this purpose. It is the responsibility of the person or group needing space to make the reservations. It is also the responsibility of those involved to determine how, within University guidelines, the facility being reserved is used and supervise such use.
• Visitors to Portland State
  Visitors to the Portland State University campus must obey all applicable federal and state laws, as well as Oregon University System and Portland State University rules and policies. Anyone choosing to violate these rules, and/or policies may be cited for criminal trespass and subject to prosecution for any illegal behavior committed while on the University grounds.Faculty, staff, and students may also face disciplinary sanctions imposed by the University should they ignore these standards of conduct. Students are subject to the requirements set forth in the student conduct code, OAR 577-031-0135. Faculty and staff are subject to OAR 577-041-0005, as well as all University policies on progressive discipline. Participants not affiliated with Portland State University should conduct themselves as guests and may be asked to leave the campus if their conduct is, in the judgment of University officials, disruptive to the learning environment or otherwise unsatisfactory.
• Placards
  Placards used by demonstrators, whether inside or outside of PSU building, may be made of poster board or similar material, by not out of material made of hard substance. Placards may not be carried on sticks or any hard-substance handles. Placards may be carried or worn on the person, by not tracked or nailed to trees, lamp posts, walls, or windows of the buildings surrounding the demonstration. No placards may be placed in any way that can or will create a visual obstruction. All placards can remain in place for the duration of the demonstration but must be promptly removed upon event termination.
• Loudspeakers
  No loudspeakers or other amplifying equipment is permitted inside or outside the University buildings. Participants are prohibited from using hand-held megaphones or other electrically amplified devices without prior written approval from the Office of Student Affairs and/or the City of Portland. Without proof that approval for such devices has been granted, all such items can and will be confiscated. The noise levels of all gatherings should not be so loud as to prevent office workers from carrying on their normal business or interfere with classes that meet in surrounding buildings and/or classrooms.
• To Reserve Space at Portland State
  Any individual or group wishing to reserve space within a Portland State University Building for demonstration or public forum purposes may do so by contacting Smith Memorial Center Scheduling staff, 503-725-4442.