With the recent attacks on females that occurred in the Heritage neighborhood, just North of the UT campus, the Austin Police Department is asking all residents and students to please take precautions in keeping yourself, family and property safe. Don't walk alone after dark and stick with a buddy if possible. If forced to walk alone then don't distract yourself by diverting your attention to your mobile phone texting, making calls or surfing the web. Be aware of your surroundings and who is around you. If you are forced to walk alone, make sure to tell someone when you are leaving and where you are leaving from, where your going and call that person when you have arrived at your destination. This way your friends or family can start a countdown of how long it will take you to get to your destination and keep track of you accordingly in case of emergency. Your best precaution is to stick together and use the buddy system. Use common sense and good judgement when it comes to your personal safety. Report any suspicious activity and call 911, not 311, to have officers respond and investigate. Better safe than sorry. Make sure to lock all your doors and windows at your residence and leave front door and back door lights on at night to light your residence. If you have flood lights located around your residence also turn those on at night and leave them on throughout the night. Don't give a criminal any dark areas to hide in around your residence. Keep all valuables hidden away in your vehicles or take them out all together. Don't leave GPS systems or cell phone accessories out in plain view. Do not leave coin change or cash in your center console and even hide or take out your CD collection as those can be sold at a used music CD shop for about $4 a disc. If you have a case with 100 music CD's that is money for a potential car burglar. Don't take your personal safety for granted, make it your daily priority.