The Georgia Southern University Public Safety Crime Prevention Team is now offering more crime prevention courses in order to educate the GS community.

Courses include Cyber Crime, Emergency Planning and Response and the Rape Aggression Defense Class (R.A.D), which is dedicated specifically to women.

“We initially started with just alcohol and drug courses over a decade ago. Once time went on, there became a need for other crime courses like sexual assault courses and identity theft,” Danny Garrigus, crime prevention coordinator and investigator, said. “So what we decided was to add courses that cater to the needs of what is going on right now and what is needed around campus.”

Each course is free and will be held either in the Russell Union theatre (Active Shooter), in a classroom (Identity Theft) or in the RAC combat studio (R.A.D).

Hunter King, junior finance major, believes that all students should take a crime prevention course in order to be better prepared at a moment’s notice.

“It’s important, just so they know what to do and be familiar, just in case something bad were to actually happen,” King said. “Knowing what to do when things like this happen can help avoid major issues in the long run.”

Chief of Police Maj. Laura McCullough explains why they are promoting crime safety to GS.

“Part of what we do here is we feel like it is our responsibility to contribute to your education as well. If you look at our patches, I know for most police, it says to serve and to protect. Ours is to serve, to protect, to educate,” McCullough said. “We want to try to give you the tools so you can use them here, but after you graduate, you have them with you as well.”

GS students are interested in the benefits and the long-term outcomes that the crime prevention courses can bring.

Sofia Maldonado, undeclared freshman, has heard of the crime prevention courses before and believes it beneficial for students.

Maldonado said, “I think it’s important to prevent crime. I heard about a lot of cars getting broken into and a lot about assaults when people are walking home late at night. The campus is open to anyone. So anyone can just walk in. So it’s very important to take these types of classes so you are able to protect yourself from situations like that.”

For more information on how to schedule a course, please contact Investigator Danny Garrigus at (912)-478-3029 or head over to the Georgia Southern University Public Safety page on Facebook.