Georgia College Public Safety urges students to utilize safety options

MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A woman was sexually assaulted at gunpoint on the campus of Georgia College Saturday.

“We’re not immune to crime,” said Georgia College Public Safety Sergeant Michael Baker.

College can seem like its own little world.

“We’re not surrounded by brick walls and fences,” said Baker. “We’re a very open campus, anyone can come on.”

It’s mostly safe, but crime does happen–even at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville.

“All we can do is educate our students to be aware of their surroundings and report suspicious activity to us,” said Baker.

It happened early Sunday morning.

Police are looking for 20-year-old Jarvis Lawrence in a sexual assault case.

The victim was not a student, but it happened on campus.

Fortunately, if you’re on campus, you have some options to hopefully prevent this terrible situation from happening.

“If anyone ever feels unsafe walking around campus, they can always call us for a safety escort from one of our officers,” said Baker.

Sergeant of Support Services at Georgia College Public Safety Michael Baker wants students to know how to stay safe.

He mentioned the SNAP program.

“Which stands for the Student Night Auxiliary Patrol, and they provide safety escorts as well with university golf carts around campus,” said Baker.

There’s technology to help as well.

Sergeant Baker says an app called Rave Guardian that helps police if you find yourself in an emergency.

“It allows people to set up a profile so in a situation where they’re maybe not able to talk, when they call in it brings up their profile information so we know who’s calling,” said Baker. “We have their picture in there.”

But most importantly, it’s about staying alert no matter where you are, especially early in the morning after a night out,” said Baker.

You can get more information, including how to download the Rave Guardian app here.

Call the Georgia College Public Safety office at 478-445-4400.