Safety tips for tourists
Walking
- Be aware of your surroundings.
- Try and walk in well-lit areas, with other people around.
- Walk in groups, or with others nearby.
- Don't display or count your money where others can see you.
- Conceal your technology (iPads, cell phones, etc.)
- Be cautious when approached by strangers.
- If confronted by someone, try not to verbally engage with them. Drugs, alcohol, or mental illness may be driving their behaviors, so your safest course is to disengage and not escalate the situation.
- If anyone attempts to rob you, either by threats or with a weapon, do not resist. It is not worth risking your life or physical injury for the amount of money you will lose.
PLEASE NOTE: Someone calling you a derogatory name is not a crime. It is a constitutionally protected free speech. If the comments are accompanied by threats, threatening behavior, or physical harm, then it becomes a crime.
Driving
- Practice defensive driving.
- Don't compete with other drivers.
- Don't engage in insults and/or gestures with other drivers.
- Keep your distance from aggressive drivers.
- Report aggressive driving to 911.
Partying
- When leaving a party or a bar, travel in groups. Criminals will focus on lone pedestrians.
- Don't get into a stranger's car.
- Call a cab or a sober friend or family member to take you home. DUI's are dangerous to everyone and they cost a lot of money.
Meeting People Online
- If you meet someone, tell your friends where you are going and describe the person you are with.
- Don't volunteer any of your personal information (date of birth, address, etc.)
- Meet your date in a public place.
- Try to find out as much about your date as possible.
- If practical, record your date's vehicle description and license plate number.
- Save all of your e-mails and texts from the person you are meeting.
- If your date is making you uncomfortable, don't worry about politeness. LEAVE!
- If your date begins to stalk or harass you, tell them clearly to stop. If they don't, call 911.