Off-Campus Student Services

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Off-Campus Safety

Stay Safe & Stay Connected

• Remember to practice good personal safety habits.
• Avoid walking or running alone, particularly after dark.
• If going to a party or a bar, go with friends and come home with friends.
• Lock your doors and windows when you are asleep or when you go out, and leave an outside light on from dusk until dawn.
• Secure window air conditioners so they cannot be pushed in from outside, allowing someone access to break in.
• Don’t let strangers into your home. Have utility repair people, meter readers, etc. show you their ID.
• If you host a party, don’t let strangers in. Just because someone is wearing a UB hoodie, doesn’t mean he or she is a UB student.
• Get to know your neighbors and have them watch your house if you go out of town.
• If you are going away, let a friend or family member know how long you will be gone.
• Check the batteries in your smoke detectors at the start of each semester.
• If you don’t have a smoke detector in each bedroom, ask your landlord to put them in. NY State law requires this!
• Don’t use an attic for a sleeping space unless there are two clear exits, If the attic does not have two exits, ask the landlord to install a fire escape (not simply a rope or chain ladder). If the landlord refuses, please contact Off-Campus Student Services at 716-829-3541 so we can advocate on your behalf.
• Don’t use a basement as sleeping space unless there are two exits, and unless there is a smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector. If these do not exist, ask the landlord to install them. If the landlord refuses, please contact Off-Campus Student Services at 716-829-3541 so we can advocate on your behalf.
• Join your neighborhood watch group.
• Don’t smoke in your bedroom.
• Don’t sleep with candles lit.
• Don’t overload electrical outlets.
• Stay connected to UB. You are part of our community. Be sure to stay involved and know what’s going on.
• List a parent or other relative in your cell phone under emergency contact.
• More safety tips are at http://offcampusliving.buffalo.edu/about.htm and http://www.student-affairs.buffalo.edu/public-safety/offcampus.php

The following checklist will help you make sure your apartment is safe.
http://www.ehs.buffalo.edu/offcampus/forms/RentersChecklist.pdf

Don't let this happen to you.

You're in charge of your own safety.

• About 80% of student fire fatalities occur in off-campus student housing. Know the location of smoke alarms and fire extinguishers, and how to maintain them. Do not rent any apartment that is not equipped with smoke detectors in each bedroom.
• Know who to call in an emergency, 911 off campus and 645-2222 on campus.
• Most importantly, report any crime by calling the police by dialing 911.

Insurance is cheap.

If your belongings are stolen or destroyed in a fire, your landlord isn't responsible for replacing them. Renters insurance could save you thousands of dollars.

• Costs as little as $12 a month
• Can cover fire; theft (from apartment as well as other places, such as the trunk of your car); liability claims (e.g. your dog bites someone or a guest falls at your apartment.)

Important Telephone numbers

For police, fire and medical emergencies call 911 off campus and 645-2222 on campus.

Resources

• Neighborhood Concerns? Let us know
• Crime Prevention & Safety
• SBI Legal Assistance (a student run organization)