UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH POLICY 06-03-02
CATEGORY: HEALTH AND SAFETY
SECTION: Campus Security
SUBJECT: Campus Crime Awareness: Crime Reporting, Crime Alerts, and
Emergency Notification
EFFECTIVE DATE: March 12, 2013 Revised
PAGE(S): 1
I. SCOPE
This policy encourages all faculty, staff, and students to promptly report all crimes
occurring on campus to the University of Pittsburgh Police Department (“UPPD”).
This policy also establishes the responsibility of the UPPD to issue timely alerts to
the University community about specific crimes and to trigger the Emergency
Notification System (“ENS”) under certain circumstances. This policy is in
accordance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and
Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act); the Higher Education Opportunities Act;
and the Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Reporting Act.
II. POLICY
A. Crime Reporting. Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to promptly report
all criminal incidents occurring on campus, or that involve the University
community, to the UPPD. UPPD police officers are responsible for responding to
and investigating all reported crimes on campus. UPPD police officers, themselves
and through direct communication with federal, state and local police agencies, will
monitor, record and respond to criminal activity in buildings or on property owned or
controlled by the University. All campus crimes are also reported monthly to the
Pennsylvania State Police, and Clery Act specified crimes are reported annually to
the U.S. Department of Education. Annually updated information regarding crime
reporting and security policies and procedures can be found in annual publications
produced by each University campus.
B. Crime Alerts. In the event of a reported crime, the chief of police at each campus
is responsible for 1) determining whether a Crime Alert is required, 2) preparing the
content of the Crime Alert, and 3) distributing the Crime Alert as promptly as
reasonably possible to aid in the prevention of similar occurrences. Crime Alerts
will not be issued if, in the judgment of the chief of police at the campus, the crime
is not considered to create a threat to the campus community.
1. Determination. A Crime Alert should be issued when a serious, unresolved
crime is committed on or adjacent to campus and the crime creates a threat of
immediate physical harm to faculty, staff, or students, and the likelihood of
repetition is such that a report is necessary to aid in the prevention of similar
occurrences. Crime Alerts will not be issued if, in the professional judgment of
the chief of police at the campus, the crime is not considered to create a threat
to the campus community.
2. Content. Crime Alerts should describe the alleged actor(s), the nature, date,
time, and location of the crime, and the type of precautions that individuals
should take to prevent similar occurrences.
3. Distribution. Crime Alerts are distributed to all affected administrative officers,
campus presidents, deans, directors, and department heads, for dissemination
to persons within their areas of responsibility. In addition, Crime Alerts will be
made available at University buildings, posted on relevant University bulletin
boards, displayed for at least 30 days on the University police department’s
website (for example, the Oakland campus’ website at http://www.police.pitt.edu/),
and reported to the campus’ media relations office. In the event these
communication media are unavailable, alternate posting may be made through
the University’s Audix system, social media, or other modes of communication.
C. Emergency Notification System (ENS) Messages. ENS messages will be used to
communicate with subscribers through voice, text, and email messages, as deemed
appropriate by the campus chief of police and Emergency Executive in the event of
an emergency as further described in this policy.
1. Determination. The chief of police at each campus, in consultation with the
designated campus Emergency Executive, will determine if an ENS message
is deemed necessary under all of the circumstances. Upon confirmation of a
significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to
the health or safety of students or employees, Pitt’s Emergency Notification
System (ENS) will be activated without delay, unless activation will - in the
professional judgment of responsible authorities - compromise efforts to assist
victims, or to contain, respond to, or otherwise mitigate the emergency. In non-
criminal cases, other public safety officials or University medical or Environmental
Health and Safety officials may be consulted.
2. Content. The ENS message will contain a succinct description of the emergency
and if possible advise recipients of actions to take. Template, pre-scripted ENS
messages should be maintained for use in appropriate situations. In criminal
cases, if an ENS message is issued, a crime alert will not be required. When
appropriate, a message indicating resolution of the emergency situation will also
be issued.
3. Distribution. Faculty, staff, and students may subscribe freely for this service.
Each subscriber can designate up to three contact numbers and specify desired
receipt of text and/or voice messages. The Emergency Notification Service is
designed for use with portable devices and is only one aspect of a layered
approach to notifying the University community of emergencies. Other methods
of notification include: building fire/emergency alarms, telephone, e-mail messaging,
siren, public address systems, building enunciators, website announcements,
radio, flyers, media releases and in-person notifications.
III. ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES
The chief of police at each campus is responsible for determining when a Crime Alert is
required, for establishing and maintaining a system of communication and consultation to
ensure timely distribution of Crime Alerts as necessary, and for implementing, overseeing,
and annually testing the ENS process in coordination with the individuals or departments
listed in this policy.
The Emergency Executive at each campus is responsible for ensuring an adequate and
timely consultation process exists for the approval and release of ENS messages.
The Computing Services and Systems Development department (“CSSD”) will advertise,
implement, oversee, and review the ENS subscription process at each campus.
Advertisement will be done annually through web and other marketing campaigns. CSSD
will provide in-house or third-party vendor telecommunications support for ENS.
The media relations office at each campus should be available for consultation and
assistance with publishing Crime Alerts as deemed necessary.
Campus presidents, Deans, and Responsibility Center heads are responsible for
ensuring pertinent Crime Alerts that they receive are disseminated to persons within
their areas of responsibility.
IV. DEFINITIONS
Campus: Any building or property owned by or controlled by the University within the same
reasonable contiguous areas and used by it for or in support of its educational purposes.
Emergency Executive:
- Oakland: Executive Vice Chancellor or Chancellor
- Bradford: Director, Facilities Management or President
- Greensburg: Vice President Academic Affairs or President
- Johnstown: Vice President Business and Finance
- Titusville: Interim Campus Dean or President, Pitt Bradford
Reported Crime: A crime is "reported" when a campus police officer investigating an
incident determines that a crime may have occurred, when a victim or witness makes a
report of a crime to campus police, or designated campus security official other than a
counselor as defined by the Clery Act, or a local police agency notifies the University that
it has documented a report of a criminal offense which has occurred on “campus" as
defined in this policy.