Additional recently enacted or expanded measures include a video doorbell program, Strategic Operations Center, Safety Ambassador Program expansion, and transportation improvements
In May, the University of Chicago announced it will donate $3 million for the City of Chicago to install security cameras and license plate readers throughout the University of Chicago Police Department’s (UCPD) extended patrol area. The development is one of several new public safety initiatives designed to continue improving safety and security in and around campus.
The $3 million public safety donation is a result of discussions with local elected officials and City of Chicago leadership and has the support of local South Side aldermen. The funds will allow the City to deploy approximately 100 cameras and license plate readers off-campus.
The Chicago Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications will have the primary responsibility of monitoring cameras in the extended patrol area, and their use will follow guidelines established by the city. The number and location of cameras will be determined by the City in collaboration with the University, the Chicago Police Department, and local aldermen.
Additionally, the University is seeking community members who live or work in UCPD’s extended patrol area to join its new Public Safety Advisory Council, which aims to better engage members of the campus and surrounding community in the University’s safety and security efforts. Representatives of the council will include University faculty, students and staff, along with community members. Its members will provide advice and counsel to University leaders on issues impacting campus and in UCPD’s extended patrol area to ensure that the University’s public safety priorities, policies, and operations are informed by community input and feedback. The deadline to apply for membership on the council has been extended to June 24.
Both initiatives build on a host of public safety efforts aimed at helping protect UChicago’s campus and community, in addition to new commitments to partner with South Side communities in preventing violence.
“We have made progress on many fronts and are already seeing a positive impact,” Eric Heath, Associate Vice President for Safety & Security, wrote in a spring safety update message shared with the campus and broader South Side communities in May.
Other safety efforts that have advanced in recent months include:
- A program to provide 500 Ring video doorbells at no cost to residents of nearby neighborhoods, including members of the University community and those with no University affiliation, to help reinforce household safety.
- Kyle Bowman joined the University as the new chief of police for the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) in early April and has met with a number of community organizations to learn about their safety and security concerns in his first two months on the job.
- The University entered phase one of launching its new Strategic Operations Center. UCPD personnel are now actively monitoring technology and intelligence in real time and passing it on to officers in the field.
- The University’s Safety Ambassador Program has been expanded with increased hours and coverage, additional security providers, and enhanced security technology.
- New safety ambassador patrols led by P4 Security Solutions, a new security partner supplementing the services from Allied Universal (the University’s main partner for the safety ambassador program). Patrols are taking place on and around campus seven days a week in the afternoons and evenings with P4’s security cars, which feature distinctive green lights.
- Transportation improvements such as improved service hours for the UGo Night Ride shuttle and improved early morning and evening service hours for the CTA’s 171 and 172 routes, which serve the Hyde Park campus area.
In addition to the new initiatives, the University continues to offer a wide range of safety-related resources which can be accessed here.
