SGA

SGA NOTICE RE PARTIES AND SAFETY

SGA Parties: We will look into hiring off-duty police officers to be present at the parties to ensure our safety.

Landlords: Landlords have no rights to entering your property without your permission once you have signed the lease and paid the rent. This should be stated in the contract you are provided with once you move in. If you find that there has been someone in your home, call the police immediately and the landlord can be forcefully removed. Remember, the police should be the first people you call, and leave any evidence you have found for them to see when they arrive. We would like to encourage all students to come forth with their experiences with various landlords. It is important that we share our experiences, both good and bad, and have some paperwork to inform future renters about the landlords and hopefully prevent our students from running into problems!

Vehicles: To ensure the safety of your vehicles when you go home for break, please leave them in a street that is well-lit and has moderate to high traffic. This will keep your vehicle in the view of others and won't give thieves an opportunity to steal something and get away with it. If your own driveway is not a safe location for your car, ask your friends and neighbours for permission and leave your car at their homes. The police suggest one of the streets across from the airport, but again, clear it through with the people who live on that street first in order to avoid congestion.

Home Security: The police have been monitoring student-inhabited areas throughout the day to ensure safety, and continue to find windows left open. Please remember to close and lock your windows and doors especially if you live in a first-floor apartment! Have a good record of your possessions. Keep a document with the serial numbers of your computers and any other valuable electronics somewhere in a safe location. Please become familiar with your belongings, and be able to describe your computer/printer/ipod and anything unusual about it to the police! There will be a better chance of them finding it if more than 'black laptop', is provided! Please get to know your neighbours and be polite to them. A neighbour who thinks well of you will more likely look out for you more.

Also, there are a number of home security measures that you can cheaply purchase. For instance, there are door window sensors (US $19.99), drawer locks (US $14.99), window stoppers (US $5.99), indoor/outdoor motion detector (US $19.99), door jam (US $29.99), that can all be bought economically and cheaply and will stop just about any would-be thief.
http://www.securitywholesaler.com/store.cfm?event=showcatalog&catid=37723
http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=travel+security++door+jam%3D&um=1&ie=UTF-8
http://www.a1selfdefenseproducts.com/shop/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=16

Driving: The driving situation with our students has improved tremendously and been highly commended by the police. We must continue to obtain driver's licenses, insurance, register our vehicles and obey the Nevisian driving laws. We are working on an idea to bring a police officer to campus to allow current non-drivers to obtain a driver's license. Those interested will need to sign a sheet and a police officer will come to the school. This is still in discussion with the Nevisian police, but we thought it would be a good idea to make the licences more accessible to students. For those who are now purchasing a car, this process is sometimes confusing. We would not like any of our students to run into problems because they are unaware. The following are some basic steps that should be followed when buying and registering a new vehicle.

Consult a mechanic and have your vehicle inspected before making a purchase.
Transfer of ownership: the current vehicle owner must obtain this document from the Charlestown police station and fill it out.
The current and new owner must go to the nearest station and both sign the 'Transfer of Ownership' document before a police witness.
Once this has been done, the new owner must take the document to the Charlestown police station and pay the fees.
The car must be inspected. Some places offering this service are: Shell station in Charlestown, Government Repair Shop and Men at Work (Trevor).
Obtain insurance. (Many students go to SNIC insurance in town, above TDC store.
Phone #: 469-5430. Note: when the car is purchased, insurance cannot be transferred from one owner to another.
You will receive an inspection form and together with valid insurance take it to the Inland Revenue Department.
There you will pay a fee and receive a sticker. The sticker MUST be mounted on the passenger seat window in the car. (Keeping it in the glove compartment is not allowed).

And finally, no matter what happens to you, whether a vehicular accident or a break-in, please, CALL THE POLICE FIRST! The sooner you call the better. Do not wait, hesitate or call anybody else until you have heard from the police. Calling immediately will increase the chances of them catching the thief if a burglary is involved, and making your call seem more credible. Please save the numbers of the police stations in your phone in order to have them in the case of emergency.

Newcastle police station: 469-9326
Gingerland police station: 469-3448
Cotton Ground police station: 469-5269
Charlestown: 469-5391/ 469-5392

DO NOT CALL 911, IT MAY NOT WORK! THE CALLS ARE OFTEN REDIRECTED TO ST. KITTS AND THIS IS NOT GOOD IN CASE OF EMERGENCY. CALL THE NUMBERS OF ABOVE!