UK Police, Fire Marshal Recognize National Campus Safety Awareness Month

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 8, 2015) ― While campus safety remains the highest priority for University of Kentucky Police Department (UKPD) year-round, September is devoted to National Campus Safety Awareness Month, and with it comes the opportunity to educate students, parents, faculty and staff on overall safety, disaster preparedness, and crime prevention.

In partnership with the UK Fire Marshal’s Office and Campus Fire Safety Month, the University Police Department is emphasizing the following community programs available to make everyone more aware of ways to stay safe while on campus. 

To learn more about some of these programs and others, please visit the corner of Woodland Avenue and Hilltop Avenue, across from The 90, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9.

• UK Alert is an emergency notification system designed for use only when an incident disrupts normal campus operations or threatens the immediate health and safety of the campus community. All UK students, staff and faculty are registered in UK Alert with their official university email address. Of those registered, nearly 60 percent have provided other contact information such as cell phone numbers to their accounts. UK students, staff and faculty may access their accounts via the myUK portal. Parents, media, visitors, and other interested parties may register for UK Alert on a voluntary self-subscription basis by clicking here.

• LiveSafe, a mobile-safety technology for the University of Kentucky community, empowers students, faculty and staff to take charge of their own safety and to look out for those around them.  The smartphone app is sponsored by UK Police in partnership with UK Student Government Association.  LiveSafe serves as a complement to other campus safety initiatives.  The app gives users the capability to share and report information; monitor a friend’s location on a real-time map as a “virtual escort” with SafeWalk; summon emergency help; and access emergency information, procedures and resources.  Download the LiveSafe app on your smartphone (Android or iPhone) and select University of Kentucky. As part of Campus Safety Awareness Month, UK Police and UK Student Government are sponsoring the LiveSafe Campus Safety Awareness Month Scavenger Hunt. Contestants must submit tips through the special “Scavenger Hunt” tip type, with photographs of various campus safety features. A grand prize winner will be selected to win a new iPad. More information is available at www.uky.edu/EM/LiveSafe.html.

• UKPD’s Citizen Police Academy is a free series of eight weekly classes beginning on Sept. 8 and running through Oct. 20.  Each class will meet from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays in Room 202 of The 90. The program is open to anyone 18 years or older with no prior felony convictions and interested in understanding law enforcement and university policing. For more information, contact Officer Robert Pearl in the Community Affairs Office at Robert.pearl@uky.edu or 859-323-7447.

• UK Campus Community Emergency Response Team (C-CERT) members will receive hands-on training in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety and suppression, light search and rescue, disaster medical operations, team organization, disaster psychology and terrorism.  Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, C-CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. UK C-CERT serves to complement the University of Kentucky Police Department’s response to serious events.  Five weeks of training will be held this fall from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Thursdays, Oct. 22 through Nov. 19, at The 90 and ends with a mock disaster exercise.  UK faculty and staff members who want to volunteer for C-Cert can register for the training beginning Sept. 14.  Visit http://www.uky.edu/EM/CERT.html for more information.

• Self Defense Tactics and Risk Reduction (S.T.A.R.R.) is a course designed for women and girls over the age of 13. The program includes discussion on ways to reduce your risk of being targeted and general safety tips and active learning to empower women with the knowledge of how to defend against larger and often stronger attackers. Punching, kicking and ground defense techniques are all taught in a non-threatening atmosphere by instructors who have been trained and certified. The class will be offered five times during the 2015 fall semester in the basement of Blazer Hall and is open to the public. Click here to sign up. If you have any questions about the S.T.A.R.R. program, contact STARR@uky.edu.

• Each day, UK Police Department gathers crime statistics from a variety of law enforcement agencies and campus security authority (CSA) resources.  The statistics are categorized and published onto the University’s Daily Crime Log.  This log contains information on the last 60 days of reports taken and arrests made.  Additionally, crimes occurring on university property that are reported to the Lexington Division of Police are included on the Crime Log once the university is notified.  Crimes must be entered into the Daily Crime Log within two business days after the crime has been reported to police/public safety/security. A printed log containing UKPD activity is maintained by the UKPD Telecommunications Office and is available for viewing at any time.

• The 2014 Annual Campus Safety and Security Report is available for viewing and/or printing. This report includes the latest statistics from UK for 2014, as well as statistics from 2012 and 2013 concerning reported crimes that occurred on campus; in certain off-campus buildings owned or controlled by UK; and on public property immediately adjacent to campus. The report also includes institutional policies concerning campus security, such as policies concerning sexual assault and other matters. If you would like a printed version of the report or if you have any questions, please contact the UKPD’s Division of Crisis Management and Preparedness at 859-257-9567 or cmp@uky.edu.

• UKPD offers classes with specialized instructors that prepare students, faculty and staff to have a survival mindset for an active shooter incident. They further train the community on how law enforcement will respond to an active shooting situation and what pre-incident behaviors are of concern. If you and your department or group would like to schedule a short presentation, you may contact Officer Alan Saylor at alan.saylor@uky.edu or 859-257-5108.

• UKPD’s Adopt-A-COPP (Community Oriented Police Program) provides a UKPD officer who is assigned to each UK residence hall to serve as an advisor and liaison with its staff and residents. This officer develops a relationship with the assigned residence hall community and offers a familiar face in which to associate. For more information, contact UKPD Crime Prevention Officer Robert Pearl at robert.pearl@uky.edu or 859-323-7447.

• UKPD’s Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) program specialist is actively involved in the Annual Campus Safety Walk organized by UK Student Government Association every spring semester. CPTED offers valuable recommendations on safer building designs while reducing crime using three concepts: 1. Natural Surveillance 2. Access Control and 3.Terrain Control. Representatives from across campus are invited to participate in the Annual Campus Safety Walk. If you are interested in having your area evaluated for improved security enhancement contact UKPD’s CPTED and Crime Prevention Specialist Officer Alan Saylor at alan.saylor@uky.edu or (859) 257-5108.

• Safe and Free Escort for Campus Area Traveling Students (SAFECATS) is a safety escort service available to UK Students and their guests from 8:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Sunday–Thursday during the fall and spring semesters except during official University holidays and breaks. UKPD contracts with the Flying Wildcats Booster Club, a student organization comprised of Air Force and Army ROTC cadets, to operate SAFECATS using golf carts provided by UKPD. These safety escorts are trained annually by UKPD, carry a police issued radio giving them direct contact with the UKPD Dispatch, and undergo a preliminary criminal background check before they are permitted to serve as  safety escorts. For added safety, any student requesting an escort is encouraged to ask to see the escort’s SAFECATS identification before being escorted. Call 859- 257-SAFE (7233).

• Cats Cab is a UK Student Government service in partnership with Bluegrass Cab that offers free late night transportation service inside New Circle Road on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.  Students are eligible to utilize this service for free by presenting a valid UK student ID plus one non-student ID.  You may reserve a cab by calling 859-252-CATS (2287), the mobile app (Android or iPhone), or the website. 

• Lextran Route 14 operates as two overlapping routes (Blue and White) traveling opposite directions.  The routes ensure that all areas of campus are less than a five-minute walk from a bus stop and provide easy access so that students and employees arrive at their destinations faster than it would take to walk the same distance.  Lextran Route 15 serves apartment complexes on Red Mile Road and Angliana Avenue.  As of July 1, University of Kentucky students, faculty and staff may ride all Lextran bus routes free of charge with their valid Wildcard ID, as part of the new BluPass program. New this year, all campus routes, including the Lextran Blue and White routes as well as the Red Mile Route (Lextran 15), are viewable real-time on TransLoc, UK’s GPS-based bus locating system. TransLoc can be accessed at uky.transloc.com and via the free TransLoc Rider Android, BlackBerry and iPhone apps.

• Campus Area Transit offers four routes serving the campus community Monday through Friday, along with on-demand night service that is limited to UK’s campus. On-demand bus pick-up may be arranged by calling 859-221-RIDE (7433). You may also track campus buses in real time using TransLoc while remaining in a safe location until the bus arrives. Visit UK’s Parking & Transportation Services for information on campus bus and shuttle routes here.

MEDIA CONTACT:  Kathy Johnson, 859-257-3155 or kathy.johnson@uky.edu