To the Anteater community:

As part of our ongoing efforts in the transformation of public safety in the UCI community, we are pleased to announce two enhancements to our community safety services.

SPIDR Tech

UCI Police Department (UCIPD) is now using SPIDR Tech, a communication platform that automatically sends individual text messages and emails to 911 callers with updates on the status of the officer’s arrival or crime victims with updates on their case such as report numbers, resources, and contact information. Additionally, after incident surveys are administered to help UCIPD measure customer satisfaction and determine how to better serve the community.

Public Safety Officers (PSO)

As recommended in the recently released UC Community Safety Plan, implementing a holistic, inclusive and tiered response model for safety services was identified as a key guideline in re-envisioning campus safety and policing. As outlined, “Non-sworn security personnel will more visibly render services such as residence hall foot patrols, providing safe shuttles/walks for students, staffing events requiring additional security, and diffusing unsafe behavior.” This recommendation also aligns with UCI’s Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) review and recommendations.

UCIPD has implemented a tiered public safety response by having non-sworn Public Safety Officers respond to calls including fire alarms, safety escorts, lock outs, and the Bicycle Education and Enforcement Program (BEEP). PSOs wear dark grey polo shirts that clearly identify them as Public Safety Officers.

PSOs adds to our existing tiered response team of Community Safety Officers (student employees who conduct safety and security checks) and Police Officers (sworn personnel who respond to criminal and traffic enforcement related activities). This tiered response structure has successfully been in place at UCI Medical Center since November 2017.

Please send any feedback or suggestions to police@uci.edu on how we can improve our community safety services.

Sincerely,

Ronald Cortez (Pronouns: he/him/his)
Chief Financial Officer
Vice Chancellor, Division of Finance and Administration

Liz Griffin (Pronouns: she/her/hers)
Chief of Police
UCI Police Department