Safety
While living an active student life, do not forget your safety! Tartu is a safe town, but we want you to know what you can do to avoid running into serious trouble.
As many studies indicate that often a victim’s inappropriate behaviour has facilitated a crime, Tartu Police has compiled several good recommendations for you to follow.
- Do not drink alcohol with people you do not know and avoid intimate contact with strangers.
- Do not walk around in parks and other empty spaces late at night. If this is inevitable, choose more busy and well-lit routes.
- Wearing a pedestrian reflector during the darker months is compulsory! They can be purchased at almost any store.
- If you do not feel secure, you may equip yourself with self-defence devices. An act that has been committed to resist an unlawful assault is justified if the defence is commensurate with the character of the assault (Art. 28 of the Penal Code). If you are at least 16, you may buy defence devices for civilian use, such as portable alarm signals and tear or pepper-gas spray that do not need to be registered (Art. 19 of the Weapons Act). Nerve gases and electric shock devices are prohibited in Estonia.
- Keep your handbags or backpacks with you. Do not carry your wallet in the outside pockets of your coat or trousers or lying on top in your handbag or backpack. Keep personal documents separately from your money. Never attach the PIN-code to your banking card. If you have to, write the PIN-code in an encoded form somewhere else.
- Get a good U-lock for your bicycle. Do not leave your bicycle unlocked or unattended in isolated spaces.
- Park your car in a guarded parking lot and install an alarm signal in the car. When you choose a radio for your car, prefer models which you can take with you when you leave the car. If you leave valuable things – sport bags, laptops or other electronic devices – in the car, this can entice criminals to break into your car.
NB! If you get into serious trouble, immediately inform the police by calling to the emergency number 112.
- Keep the scene of a crime untouched and identify possible witnesses.
If you do not speak Estonian, find somebody who can translate for you in an emergency situation.