Getting Home

Get a personal attack alarm from LATW.

Carry it in your hand so you can use it immediately to scare off an attacker. Make sure it is designed to continue sounding if it drops or falls to the ground.

• Keep your bags zipped & closed. If someone grabs it, let it go. Your valuables can be replaced. Carry house keys in your pocket.

• If you think someone is following you, check by crossing the street more than once if necessary to see if you're being followed. If you are still worried, get to the nearest place where there are other people anywhere with a lot of lights on and call the police. Avoid using an enclosed phonebox in the street.

• Stick to well-lit roads with pavements. On commons and parklands, keep to main paths and open spaces where you can see and be seen by other people avoid wooded areas. If you wear a MP3 player or IPOD, remember you can't hear traffic, or somebody approaching behind you.

• Don't take short-cuts. Walk facing the traffic so a car cannot pull up behind you unnoticed.

• If a car stops and you are threatened, scream and shout, and set off your personal attack alarm if you have one. Get away as quickly as you can. This will gain you vital seconds and make it more difficult for the car driver to follow. If you can, make a mental note of the number and description of the car. Write down details as soon as possible afterwards.

If you have been attacked then call the police straightaway.

Don't be flash with your cash, phone, laptop, or MP3 player as these all show thieves you are worth robbing.

You can protect your mobile, IPOD, laptop, etc by registering it with the Police Service and the mobile phone protection scheme.  https://www.immobilise.com/