The University of Virginia is continuing to beef up its safety programs after a string of attacks against students.
In an e-mail sent out Thursday to the university community, UVa’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, Leonard W. Sandridge, wrote that the increase in incidents against students has prompted additional safety measures.
Because of an increase in the number of students using the SafeRide program to get home, the school is adding three additional phone lines to SafeRide and doubling the number of people who answer those phones. The University Transit System will extend late-night bus service to Thursdays this semester as part of a pilot program starting next week.
SafeRide, which can be reached at 242-1122, runs from midnight to 7 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 2:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. UTS now will provide service on the Northline and Outer U-Loop from 12:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Once UTS changes its hours, SafeRide’s Thursday hours will change to 2:30 a.m. to 7 a.m.
Sandridge said in his e-mail that UVa and Charlottesville police will increase their patrols in and around the university, particularly on weekends. The University Security and General Safety Committee, which improved lighting around Kellogg Residence Hall, is asking that anyone who sees a safety issue on Grounds write to Chairwoman Marge Sidebottom at uvaoep@virginia.edu.
UVa’s police department is hosting a four-week rape aggression defense class for women on Thursdays starting Nov. 9. The class will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the North Grounds Recreation Center and people can register by contacting Lt. Melissa Fielding at fielding@virginia.edu.
Sandridge said the victims in most of the incidents, which have occurred between midnight and dawn, have involved women walking alone.
“Obviously, walking only in groups may help deter someone who is intent on doing harm,” he wrote.
Since Sept. 17, several students have reported being attacked on or near campus. The most recent report was Oct. 16, when a woman who was walking on Barracks Road near Rugby Road after calling SafeRide was grabbed from behind. Police have said she was able to fight off the attacker.
Carlton William Arnold, 28, is scheduled to go to trial in December in connection with a Sept. 29 robbery and unwanted touching of a UVa student. The woman testified earlier this month that a man approached her from behind on 15th Street and demanded money from her, telling her he had a gun. After several unsuccessful attempts at getting money, the woman was able to get cash back from a CVS transaction and make the attacker go away.
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