Purdue police urge women to use caution

WEST LAFAYETTE -- City and campus police are urging women at Purdue University to take steps to protect themselves after three reported attacks against female students in a 24-hour period.\nThe attacks occurred Tuesday night and Wednesday. Kyle Darnell Williams, 19, a student and former member of the football team, is being held at the Tippecanoe County Jail as a suspect in two assaults near campus Tuesday night. Police believe the third incident, reported Wednesday, is not related.\nPrecautions can be as simple as letting a friend know a destination and when arrival home is expected, Capt. John Cox of the Purdue University Police Department said.\nIf possible, students should walk with others at night, Cox said, and he encouraged use of the Safe Walk program in which other students and sometimes police officers are sent to walk a student home.\n"If you have a cell phone, and most students do, use it to tell someone you're on your way home now. Pair up in the buddy system," Cox said. "If you get the feeling that you're being followed, use your cell phone and call police or go to one of the Emergency Telephone System, ETS, boxes."\nCox encouraged students to act on any feeling of danger, even if it's "just a hunch."\nSophomore Kelly Davis, who lives in an off-campus apartment south of State Street, said she's thankful for the police effort.\n"I've always thought of Purdue as relatively safe, and yeah, the news was shocking," she told the Lafayette Journal and Courier. "But there's a lot you can do to protect yourself. I hope other women here, and anyone who may try to hurt one of us, realize that."\nAt the request of Purdue's executive vice president, Morgan Olsen, the university also is researching the possible installation of video cameras in "high-risk" and high-traffic areas around campus. The cameras would be monitored by Purdue police dispatchers, Cox said.\nPossible locations include parking garages and Third Street, which serves as a main walkway between several residence halls and the main campus.\n"These are places that have a high mix of visitors and students and are high traveling routes," Cox said.\nOfficers also are trying to be more visible on campus "to bring peace of mind to students ... and provide more eyes," Cox said.\nThe same goes for West Lafayette police, who serve the Chauncey Village area popular with students and other locations near Purdue. Three ETS boxes ring to West Lafayette dispatchers, patrol Capt. Mike Francis said.\n"We always ask our officers to be vigilant in the districts. They'll step up enforcement," he said. "We're always asking the public to notify us if there's a problem"