A campaign to stamp out drink spiking is being ramped up for freshers week, the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner said.
Katy Bourne said: “Over the past two weeks, my team have been attending various freshers fairs at local universities to speak with students about safety, hear their concerns and provide advice and guidance.
“We’ve been reminding students about my Safe Space Sussex App and our work with night-time venues to provide staff with additional training.
“My office has also funded night safety marshals and street pastors to help people get home safely.
“Earlier in the year, I funded 250,000 drinks protectors known as ‘StopTopps’ to hand out to local venues and businesses.
“StopTopps can be secured to glasses or cups to deter predatory opportunists from spiking drinks.
“Last weekend, members of my team attended ‘Boundary’ – the south coast’s biggest electronic dance festival – to hand out anti-spiking StopTopps and remind people of my ‘Do the Right Thing’ campaign.
“The drink covers were very popular, with young people speaking about their own experiences of spiking, and many telling us that they appreciated being able to access a safety tool like this for free while out and about.”
The Boundary festival organiser Luke Ralph said: “We want our events to be spaces where people can feel comfortable and have fun.
“Initiatives like this and proactive reminders throughout the day can make a huge difference.”
