Improving Observation Skills on Campus

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Improving Observation Skills on Campus

• Faculty, Staff and Students Training Series

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Observation Skills

• Course Objectives
• Participants will
• Learn the importance of being observant
• Learn observation skills that can be employed in
  University Crime Watch
• Understand that observation is the first step in
  reporting incidents

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Observation Skills

• What to observe

Physical setting Specific location Time of day Day of week
People What do they look like? How are they acting? How many of them are there?
Routines Did you notice any recurring patterns or routines? How often did they occur? Who was involved?
Specific items What other factors might be important?
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Observation Skills

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Observation Skills

• Answer the following questions regarding the
  previous picture
• What was the name on the lead car?
• About how many cars were in the picture?
• Was anyone hurt?
• What color was the damaged vehicle or vehicles??
• What type of damage was there to the vehicle or
  vehicles?
• Where (place) did the accident occur?

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How to observe people and vehicles

• Stay calm and remain alert to your surroundings
• Begin with the basics
• Move to specifics
• Broaden your perspective
• Add details

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People Begin with the Basics

• Gender
• Race
• Age
• Number of individuals involved

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People Move to specifics

• Height
• Weight
• Clothing
• Hat
• Shirt
• Pants
• Shoes
• Hair and eye color
• Facial hair

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People Broaden your perspective

• What other events are occurring?
• Who else is affected?
• What is the overall situation?

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People Add details

• Vehicles involved
• Witnesses
• Location
• Direction of travel
• Outcome of the incident
• Individuals injured or killed
• Damage caused

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Vehicle Begin with the basics

• Make
• Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, VW, Volvo, Lexus, Honda,
  Nissan, Toyota, etc.
• Model
• Mustang, Maxima, Expedition, Focus, Accord, etc.

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Vehicle symbols

• How many of these vehicle symbols
  do you recognize?

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Vehicle Move to specifics

• Body style
• 2 door
• 4 door
• Hatchback
• Convertible
• Four wheel drive
• Color
• Overall appearance
• Clean or dirty?
• primer marks?

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Vehicle Add details

• Damage
• Bumper stickers
• Signs or lettering
• Phone numbers
• Company logos

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Improving your observation skills

• Be patient and take your time
• Pay attention to your surroundings

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Post-Observation Actions

• If possible, write down your observations as soon
  as possible
• Record the date and time
• If activities appear to be unusual, suspicious or
  illegal, call for assistance and let law
  enforcement take action

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Conclusion