NOVA Public Safety Newsletter

Transcription

1 NOVA Public Safety Newsletter NOVEMBER 2018 ffff IN THIS ISSUE Penelope the NOVA Police Cat Penelope the NOVA Police Cat urges all citizens to vote in the upcoming midterm and local elections. You can play a positive role in shaping government and its policies. Penelope dispenses good advice on a daily basis in her Instagram account. Check out her witticisms The Facts about Drunk Driving Alcohol is a dangerous and powerful drug that affects millions of lives every day. Even if you are not drinking, alcohol may affect you. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: Alcohol is involved in 60% of all auto fatalities, most of which (75%) occur between Midnight-0300 hrs. One alcohol-impaired fatality occurs every minutes and someone is injured in an alcoholrelated accident every 90 seconds. The average drunk driver operates a vehicle under the influence 80 times before his or her first arrest. One of three people will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lifetime. Penelope the NOVA Police Cat The Facts about Drunk Driving Two NOVA Officers Graduate from Bike School Cooking is the Leading Cause of Home Fires Earthquake Drill a Huge Success NOVA Police Training Announcements Download the LiveSafe Mobile Safety App Police Dispatch (703) Call Us 24/7/365 Novapolice@nvcc.edu

2 4 NOVA PUBLIC SAFETY NEWSLETTER 2 The Facts about Drunk Driving (cont d) The age group is most often involved in fatal crashes, and males are twice as likely to be involved than females. 72% of sexual assaults, 83% of all murders, and 60% of reported child abuse cases were committed by individuals under the influence of alcohol. One of every 6 teens binge drinks, and over 7 million teens are problem drinkers. Alcohol affects brain development since the brain does not fully mature until an individual is about 25 years old. More teens are killed under the influence of alcohol than all other drugs combined. Over 15 million adults are alcoholics. According to the CDC, alcohol costs over $250 billion annually in lost productivity and health care, not counting property loss, pain and suffering and other costs. An understanding of the following myths can help ensure safe and trouble-free adult enjoyment of alcohol. Alcohol makes me more outgoing. No, alcohol is a depressant. It affects the central nervous system, impairing vision, coordination, judgment and reaction time. It lessens your inhibitions. You can sober up with black coffee, a cold shower, fresh air or exercise. Only time can sober up a drinker. While factors such as the drinker s height and weight and how much food is in his or her stomach affect how quickly one becomes impaired, the body needs an hour to process each ounce of liquor. So, if you have five drinks in two hours, your body will only burn off two of these drinks; you ll need another three hours of non-drinking time to become sober. Beer or wine is not as intoxicating as hard liquor. In fact, a 12-ounce beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine, and a one ounce shot of hard liquor all contain about the same amount of alcohol. A DUI conviction is the same as any other traffic violation, except it carries more points. A DUI conviction is not the same as a traffic violation, even a serious one like reckless driving. A DUI conviction will result in a criminal record that can affect your lifetime employment options and salary. If you become intoxicated, do not drive impaired. A DUI conviction can carry up to a $2,500 fine and a year in jail. When one includes fines, higher insurance rates, lawyer fees, and remedial programs, total costs of a conviction can reach over $10,000! If a friend is not available to give you a ride, call a taxi. During the December-January holiday season, St. Patrick s Day, Independence Day; and Halloween, the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) SoberRide program will provide a free cab ride home, up to a $30 fare. Since 1993, WRAP has provided more than 60,000 free rides during high-risk holidays to local residents. Call TAXI. Earthquake Drill a Huge Success Thank you for participating in the Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill at 10:18 a.m. on October 18 th. Thousands of people at NOVA participated in the drill, making it a huge success. Besides great participation, we were also able to exercise our emergency communications and notification equipment. You participated with 19.9 million people across the United States. The Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill was an opportunity to practice how to be safer during earthquakes: "Drop, Cover and Hold On." Earthquakes do occur in Virginia and you could be anywhere when an earthquake strikes. You owe it to yourself, friends and loved ones to be prepared.

3 3 Two NOVA Officers Graduate from Bike School Two NOVA officers, Kevin Fuentes (Manassas) and John Baxter (Loudoun), recently completed Police Bicycle training and joined the ranks of 9 other NOVA officers certified to conduct bicycle patrol. The 40-hour bicycle training course is extremely rigorous, covering safe bicycle operations in traffic; pursuits; use of radios and other equipment while riding; use of firearms; negotiating obstacles, such as stairways and curbs; and more. The course was conducted by NOVA Police Lieutenant John Ski Stasiowski. Lt. Ski is a certified police bicycle operations instructor with the International Police Mountain Bike Association and has trained and certified nearly 200 local, state and federal law enforcement officers from over 25 agencies throughout Virginia and beyond. Lt. Stasiowski, flanked by Officers Fuentes (L) and Baxter (R) Bicycle operations enhance the effectiveness of NOVA Police and our ability to protect and serve NOVA. Bike operations also provide environmental and cost-saving benefits. Officers on bikes are more approachable than those in cruisers and can help overcome negative stereotypes about police. Bike uniforms are more casual and are perceived by some as less threatening, thereby enhancing the image of campus police. Many campus members ride bicycles and can relate to the bike officer. Bicycle patrols result in twice as many contacts with the public than vehicle patrols and allow police to do a better job providing timely services. Bikes can go places where vehicles cannot, providing the ability to access areas where services are needed faster than an officer can on foot. Those committing crimes typically don t notice bike officers as easily as they do officers in vehicles. Bikes have no carbon footprint, providing environmental benefits.

4 4 Cooking is the leading cause of home fire and Thanksgiving is the leading day of the year for home fires Safety in the kitchen is important, especially on Thanksgiving Day when there is a lot of activity and people at home. Please keep the following in mind as you prepare to share special meals with family and friends. Keep an eye on what you fry. Most cooking fires start when someone is frying food. Watch what you are cooking. Fires start when the heat is too high. If you see any smoke or the grease starts to boil, turn the burner off. Move things that can burn away from the stove. This includes dishtowels, bags, boxes, paper, and curtains. Wear short sleeves or roll them up so they don t catch on fire. Make sure children and pets stay at least 3 feet away from a hot stove. Turn pot handles toward the back of the stove so no one can bump them or pull them over. Make sure you are awake and alert. Alcohol and some drugs can make you sleepy. Keep a fire extinguisher on hand and learn how to use it. Source: National Fire Protection Association Statistics Based on annual averages: Unattended cooking is the leading factor in home cooking fires. Two-thirds of home cooking fires started when food or other cooking materials caught fire. Clothing was the item first ignited in less than one percent of these fires, but these incidents accounted for 18 percent of cooking fire deaths. Ranges accounted for the largest share (62 percent) of home cooking fire incidents. More than half (55 percent) of reported non-fatal home cooking fire injuries occurred when the victims tried to fight the fire themselves. Frying poses the greatest risk of fire.

5 NOVA Police Training NOVA Police conduct an active community outreach program. The following topics are available for presentation to faculty, students and staff. If there are additional topics you would like presented in your class, please contact Lt. John Weinstein at Topics: Active Shooter Response Dealing with Difficult People Staying Safe on the Street/Self-Defense Considerations Alcohol/DUI Awareness Staying Safe in the Classroom Recognizing/Reporting Suspicious Behavior Crimes Against Women/Human Trafficking Staying Safe While Using Uber and Lyft Identity Protection Technology and Policing Empower Yourself to be Safe! Download LifeSafe Mobile Safety App The LifeSafe Mobile Safety app, available at no charge to NOVA faculty, students, staff and their friends, is a powerful tool that can empower you to stay safe, keep your campus safe, put potentially life-saving information at your fingertips, and facilitate timely interaction with NOVA Police in the event of an emergency or need for assistance. Downloading LiveSafe is easy and fast. Go to or Google Play or itunes to download this great app.