Student Safety has always been and will always be a top priority for the University of Louisville’s Department of Public Safety. DPS has initiated many programs and utilized the best and latest in technology to keep our students safe.
Here are some of the initiatives and programs our department utilizes to enhance the safety of all our campuses:
The University Alert system notifies participating students of imminent danger so decisions can be made to enhance the safety of the individual and the campus.
The department provides active shooter training to student groups so they will know what to do in a worst case scenario situation.
Our marked patrol units are proactive in monitoring unsafe traffic patterns and suspicious activity.
We maintain and monitor more than 125 outside cameras that scan the campus for suspicious activity.
The department maintains and monitors 130 emergency phones spread throughout our three campuses.
Our officers meet with all incoming freshman and their parents to provide valuable safety tips.
Our office through the University Fire Marshall provides pertinent fire prevention information at activities throughout the year.
And since Jan. 1 – a period of just over three months — our department has provided more than 2,000 safety escorts for our students.
Our communications system is tied to Metro Louisville’s Metro Safe Communication Center. This gives the University Police the ability to speak with all first responders in emergency situations and provides up to the minute, county-wide information on criminal activity that could affect the campus.
As you can see from this list student safety is very much a priority with the Department of Public Safety.
But sometimes we have to set priorities.
When an emergency or special event happens on campus, such as the NCAA Championship Game celebration with 8,000 to 10,000 participants taxing the majority of our resources, then our Communication Center must triage incoming calls, giving priority to those involving imminent danger and life-threatening situations. This means some less urgent requests – including escorts or other non-emergency activities — must be suspended or delayed until the incident at hand is under control.
We always will do what we feel is in the best interest of our students.
If there is ever a question concerning how a service was provided or why a call for service was handled in a certain way please call the Office of the Chief of Police at 852-7236.
Wayne Hall
Chief of Police
University of Louisville Department of Public Safety
