Alexandra Webel can’t step out of her apartment at night without being afraid of what might lie in the dark.
For Webel, a 21-year-old UF mathematics and statistics senior, the fear of a predator at large follows her home.
“Ever since the attacks started happening, my safety and peace of mind have been the most important thing to me,” she said. “I’m worried to even walk out to my car at night because there are so many dark areas around where I live.”
On- and-off campus residences are trying to qualm Webel’s and many other students’ fears by sending out emails emphasizing personal safety.
Gainesville Police spokesman Officer Ben Tobias said the department has reached out to neighboring apartment complexes that surround the university.
“We manage a crime prevention office,” he said. “Those folks are handing out printed materials and sending out emails to every apartment company they can. They’re also visiting as many places as they can.”
While GPD does not have enough officers to station at apartment complexes around Gainesville, Tobias said the department is carrying out roving patrols at all hours of the day.
“We want people to be aware of their surroundings and to be on the lookout,” he said.
But the concern hits closer to home for students living on campus after four female students were attacked.
Sharon Blansett, assistant to the associate vice president for UF Student Affairs, wrote in an email that the housing security staff is reaching out to all on-campus residents walking alone at night.
“All housing staff routinely monitor their work locations for suspicious activity and reinforce safety education messages to residents,” she said. “During enhanced education/outreach times like now, they more assertively and more visibly complete these actions.”
UF Housing and Residence Education offers security staff patrols near dorms from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. and provides escorts to residents walking at night.
Security staffers are also distributing resource cards that have the Student Nighttime Auxiliary Patrol, UPD and Housing Security phone numbers, along with safety tips to residents.
Max Borg, a 20-year-old UF nursing junior, said he keeps himself and his female friends safe when staying late on campus.
“It’s just all about how you can keep yourself safe,” Borg said. “Walk in pairs, call your roommates or your friends and let them know where you are.”
Webel is taking precautions of her own. She said she tries to walk under lit areas at her complex and has her boyfriend pick her up from work at the Reitz Union Hotel.
“Women are not always able to have people around us, but we have to protect ourselves,” she said.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 9/10/2014 under the headline "Off-campus housing, dorms face heightened safety precautions"]
