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Division of Public Safety
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Crime Prevention
Residence Halls and Campus Facilities
University residence halls use a Best locking system, so there are no duplicate keys. All keys are stamped “Property of University of Illinois-Do Not Duplicate." All keys are coded with core numbers rather than room numbers, so lost or stolen keys cannot be matched with a particular room or building. Seven buildings have key switches installed on the elevators to improve security. All halls have card access systems to control access to outside entrances and to residential areas.
When students move into the residence halls, they receive a handbook that contains information on security; it emphasizes that the room key is the basic means of security. Students are asked to help enforce security procedures. Most exterior doors on campus buildings are locked and secured each evening by the building staff or by the Facilities and Services lockup crew. Users of campus buildings are instructed not to compromise security by propping open the doors. University police officers are assigned to residence halls as a focus area under the department's community policing philosophy. During the late night hours, student patrol teams and police officers provide random patrol of campus buildings and parking lots.
As part of their patrol responsibilities, officers report repairs needed for exterior lighting and other identified safety issues. Students and staff are also asked to report exterior lighting deficiencies or other needed repairs. To improve nighttime visibility, trees, shrubs, and other vegetation on campus are trimmed. Surveys of campus facilities, including lighting, are conducted periodically by the Campus Risk Manager and a campus lighting committee.
Crime prevention specialists make recommendations about the physical and electronic security systems designed for new and renovated campus facilities. The specialists use the practice of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design to assist in their assessments and recommendations.
The campus works closely with the local mass transit district to provide safe and reliable transportation services for students, faculty, and staff.
Crime Prevention Programs
The following programs are designed to reduce opportunities for crime:
- University police officers are deployed into defined focus areas to work hand-in-hand with members of the campus in identifying and addressing crime, fear, and quality-of-life issues. Additional information about community policing on campus, the assignment of officers and their focus areas can be found on the Web through the Focus Area Officer page.
- Emergency telephones placed in buildings, bus shelters, and along walkways throughout the campus provide a direct line to the university police department.
- SafeWalks, provided by student patrol teams, assist people who would otherwise have to walk alone at night.
- Students can request that a Crime Prevention Officer conduct a security assessment of their apartments.
- Operation Identification makes engraving tools available to students and staff members so they can mark their personal property with their driver's license number.
- The Crimestoppers Program (217-373-TIPS(8477)) is a Champaign County program that identifies a major crime each week and solicits anonymous information to help solve the crime. Information may also be sent through the Web at champaigncountycrimestoppers.com or via text message by sending TIP397 plus the message to CRIMES (274637). The Campus Police department participates in this program, and crimes committed on campus are sometimes highlighted by the program.
- The Campus Police department has a Crime Prevention Coordinator who tailors programs for specific needs and assists in coordinating crime prevention efforts.
- Crime awareness meetings are held in the residence halls at the beginning of each semester. Safety stickers are placed on the back side of every residence hall room door listing emergency phone numbers.
Crime Prevention Education
Through informal contact within police focus areas, seminars, information booths, and publications, Campus Police and other administrative units offer educational opportunities to students and staff throughout the year.
- Student Programs: All new students attend orientation. University police officers present information on campus crime statistics and crime prevention. At the beginning of each fall semester, the residence halls distribute handouts on crime prevention. In addition, officers staff an information booth at the annual Quad Day, which kicks off the fall semester.
- Student groups may invite university police officers to speak on various crime and safety-related issues. Crime prevention programs are available on campus crime, sexual assault, alcohol and drug awareness, self-defense, walking safety, bicycle security, and campus watch. More than one hundred programs are given annually, most of them in the University residence halls and other student housing.
- The University Police sponsors the Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) course for women on campus in order to “develop and enhance the options of self-defense, so they may become viable considerations to the woman who is attacked." These courses are held at different times throughout the year and provide women a chance to develop awareness and risk reduction strategies along with physical defense techniques.
- Employee Programs: New faculty and staff attend an orientation at which campus crime statistics and crime prevention are discussed. Crime prevention information and handouts are part of all Employee Resource Fairs, which are held three to four times a year. Employee groups may request university police officers to give presentations on safety similar to the presentation available to students.
- Rape Prevention Education: The Office of Women's Programs and the Campus Acquaintance Rape Education program give presentations at the request of student groups and employees. Topics include rape awareness, education, and prevention. All entering freshmen are required to participate in a prevention workshop, and various other presentations are given each year for students and employees.
- Acts of Intolerance/Hate Violence Prevention: Student Affairs conducts campus-wide publicity and awareness campaigns, training and outreach presentations, and campus-wide forums. Reports of acts of intolerance may be submitted over the Web at odos.illinois.edu/tolerance, by e-mailing the Office of the Dean of Students at HELPdean@illinois.edu, or by calling 217-333-0050.
- Publications and Other Media: Public Safety Reports advise the community of current crime problems and suggest ways to avoid becoming a victim. They are typically published throughout the fall and spring semesters. In addition, various reports and information are available on the Division of Public Safety's Web site at publicsafety.illinois.edu.
- Brochures, posters, and other materials are distributed at presentations and at information centers throughout campus. Current brochure titles include “Rape & Sexual Assault: Protective Measures,"‚ “Residence Hall Security & Annoying Phone Calls,"‚ “Bicycle & Vehicle Security,"‚ and “Street Sense = Common Sense."‚ An annual report of campus security policies and crime statistics is made available to all current and prospective students and employees.
- Articles on crime prevention are published periodically in the student and faculty-staff newspapers, The Daily Illini and Inside Illinois. Prevention tips are broadcast on radio stations WPGU-FM, WILL-AM, and WDWS-AM. Information on campus crime and crime prevention is provided regularly to all local news media.