UK Police Department to increase safety, security efforts around North Campus
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 8, 2024) — The University of Kentucky Police Department (UKPD) is increasing safety and security efforts near the UK campus.
“The safety of our students and employees is our top priority at the University of Kentucky,” UK Police Chief Joe Monroe wrote in emails to students and parents. “The university will invest the necessary resources to ensure safety in this area and is working with partners in the city of Lexington to protect the UK community, both on and off campus, where many students live and work.”
Starting this weekend:
- UKPD will deploy an additional team of officers by bike, foot and vehicle patrolling the North Campus area from 10 p.m.-4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. This team is in addition to the current UKPD officers already patrolling North Campus regularly.
- UK is installing additional lighting — large temporary flood lights — on Winslow Street, adjacent to the location of a recent shooting in a commercial parking lot just off campus.
- UKPD is currently assessing where to install additional permanent lighting, cameras and Blue Emergency Towers around that area.
- UKPD will begin limiting access to garages and parking lots in the area, including at The Cornerstone.
UK Police are also conducting a lighting and security assessment along the Limestone Street corridor — from Scott Street to Maxwell Street — to determine other safety and security measures that may be appropriate.
Monroe also reinforced with students and families that they can report suspicious activity directly to UKPD via the LiveSafe app. Students and others also have the option of dialing 911 in the event of an emergency.
“Finally, UKPD wants to remind our campus community that safety is a shared responsibility,” Monroe said in the emails to students and families. “If you see something, say something.”
More safety resources are available to the community at https://police.uky.edu/safety.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.