Campus & Community

Message from the Department of Public Safety

Saturday, November 16, 2019, By News Staff

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

A few moments ago, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) issued a Public Informational Alert to inform you of a bias incident that was reported early this afternoon in Haven Hall.

Please note, we also received a report of a potential bias incident overnight at Day Hall. However, at this stage in the investigation, we do not have enough evidence to verify this incident was motivated by bias. We continue to actively investigate this report. We will communicate to the broader community when we have accurate and confirmed information.

In light of these incidents, and other recent incidents involving hate speech on our campus, the Department of Public Safety is taking the following measures to increase safety and security on and adjacent to campus:

  • DPS officers have switched from 10- to 16-hour shifts. This will double our workforce and presence.
  • As a reminder, we recently enhanced our safety escort program to include both shuttle and walking escorts.
  • DPS officers are increasing enhanced property checks conducted.
  • DPS officers are vigilantly and proactively communicating with students to elicit any information that would lead to identifying the perpetrators.
  • DPS is working with the Syracuse Police Department and the New York State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to actively investigate the previously reported incidents.
  • In addition to the aforementioned measures, as shared previously by Chancellor Syverud, we are distributing DPS Public Informational Notices when we verify bias incidents.

I also want to remind you of important resources available to you, including:

LiveSafe: Connecting with DPS is as easy as opening an app on your smartphone. With LiveSafe, you can call DPS or 911 in the event of an emergency; report tips, including videos and pictures; or use the SafeWalk feature, which permits you to virtually share your location with friends as you walk to a destination. Download the app here.

Text SUSAFE to 444-999: Adding important Syracuse University safety and support contact information is quick and simple! When you text SUSAFE to 444-999 you’ll be sent a link to download a contact card that you can save right to the contact list on your phone. This link will only work on mobile devices. For more information, including the steps for downloading the card to your phone, visit news.syr.edu. PLEASE NOTE: If you’ve downloaded the card before, you will need to download it again to get all the latest updates on the student support card.

STOP Bias: This is the University’s bias reporting system. Community members who experience bias or witness a bias incident can visit the Stop Bias website to report or receive support for bias-related incidents.

Orange Alert: This is the University’s crisis notification system, designed to provide rapid notification and instruction in the event of a crisis. We perform a test of this system every semester and will be scheduling one for the upcoming month. In addition, due to our expanding campus, we recently added two more sirens to our system; one on the top of the Whitman School and the other on the top of the Falk College. Please log in to MySlice to verify that your contact information is up to date.

Finally, the Department of Public Safety is here for you 24/7 by calling 315.443.2224 or by connecting on the LiveSafe app.

Sincerely,

Bobby Maldonado
Chief, Department of Public Safety