Cal State East Bay provides students with personal alarms

An East Bay university is arming its new students with ear-splitting personal alarms. Robocopp, the new device by a Bay Area start-up, is Cal State East Bay's response to nation-wide reports of sexual assaults and robberies on college campuses.

The university's housing administration said it felt the Robocopp alarms were more effective than what's become known as "rape whistles."

"A whistle can be mistaken often if you're on campus, especially near a sports game," said Robocopp public relations manager Jill Turner.

"And it's incredibly difficult to blow a whistle while you're running."

The device is not much bigger than a flash drive. It consists of two pieces and when pulled a part, makes a loud, high pitched noise.

"It might hurt your ears," said Turner.
"It's 120 decibels, so you can compare that to an ambulance siren."

The alarm will go off for 30 minutes or until the two pieces reconnect.

"We've been told to just throw it away, so no one can go ahead and find it and the sound will go on and on," said Cal State junior Bianca Enriquez.

Students said the device makes them not only feel safe, but empowered.

"Also to be able to take action," said Cal State junior Kimberly Saari.
"To be able to know someone is in danger and I can finally do something. Not everyone can run out and be a hero, but we can at least make a call to the police."

Resident Assistants will give the Robocopp alarms out to students in their dorm halls this Tuesday during floor meetings.

Robocopp sells for under $20 and can be purchased on the company website or Amazon.com.