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DU sends out two types of alerts to keep the DU community informed about safety and security threats: “timely warnings” and “emergency notifications.”��

Timely warnings are used to inform the DU community, in a timely manner, about serious or continuing threats to students and employees. The intent of a timely warning is to inform students and employees about crimes on or near campus, enable the DU community to protect themselves, provide prevention and safety tips, and aid in the prevention of similar crimes.

Emergency notifications are used to immediately notify the DU community upon the confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees occurring on a DU campus. The process for DU’s emergency notifications can be found in this section.

Timely Warnings

Timely warnings, called a “Campus Safety Alert” may be distributed for any Clery-reportable crimes that represent a serious or continuing threat to the DU Community. Each incident is considered and evaluated on a case-by-case basis, depending on the facts of the case and the information known by the Department of Campus Safety (DCS) at the time. For example, if an assault occurs between two students who have a disagreement, there may be no continuing threat to other campus community members, and a timely warning notice would not be distributed. Because instances of sexual assault may not be reported until long after the incident occurred, there may not be any opportunity for DCS to distribute a timely warning notice to the community.

In instances where information was not provided to DCS in a timely manner or if the threat has been appropriately mitigated, DCS will not generally issue a timely warning notice. If new information surfaces, the DCS will reevaluate the incident and may issue a timely warning.

The content of a timely warning generally consists of:

• a brief summary of the incident;
• a physical description of the suspect (if known and relevant);
• whether the case is under investigation;
• resources, safety and prevention tips, and;
• who to contact to report additional information.��

DU must keep confidential the names and personally identifying information of crime survivors when issuing a timely warning. The DCS will never release a crime survivor’s personally identifiable information in a timely warning. When issuing a timely warning for sensitive matters, such as gender-based violence, DCS avoids releasing specific incident details that may identify a crime survivor; however, DCS may need to release information, such as a location, that may lead to identification of a crime survivor. The DCS balances the need to provide information of a serious or continuing threat to the DU community with protecting the confidentiality of the crime survivor to the maximum extent possible.

Timely warning notices are developed, activated, and distributed under the direction of the Chief of Campus Safety or their designee. The timely warning notice development process is as follows:��

• DCS personnel receive information about a Clery Act crime on or near a DU campus from a Campus Security Authority, from the public, or from another law enforcement agency.
• The Clery and Compliance Coordinator, or another DCS employee, completes a timely warning decision matrix to determine if it is appropriate to send a timely warning.
• The timely warning decision matrix and the incident report are provided to the Chief of Campus Safety, Commander of Campus Safety, the Patrol Captain, the Manager of Emergency Preparedness, and the Office of General Counsel to determine if the incident warrants the issuance of a timely warning.
• If DCS determines through this process that a timely warning is needed, a staff member (usually the Clery and Compliance Coordinator) drafts the Campus Safety Alert.
• The draft is sent to DU employees in various units for review as well as to selected law enforcement personnel to confirm that the timely warning will not be hindering any active law enforcement investigation prior to the release of the timely warning to the DU community.
• Once the review process is complete, DCS issues the timely warning to the entire DU community via mass email.

Timely warning notices are normally issued by either the Clery and Compliance Coordinator or Manager of Emergency Preparedness. Trained staff members in the DCS Communication Center may also distribute the timely warning notices at the direction of the Chief of Campus Safety or their designee. Additionally, other DCS staff may be involved in developing and/or executing the timely warning process as necessary or as Chief by the Director of Campus Safety or their designee.

Timely warning notices are distributed via mass email to the University email accounts of all employees and students, and may also be posted to the DCS X account, Facebook account, Instagram account, and DU SAFE app to be promptly received by individuals who follow or subscribe to those accounts. The DCS may post a copy of the Campus Safety Alert at the front desk of each residence hall, and/or at the doorway to each campus building, as well as deliver copies to each fraternity and sorority house.

DU does not routinely issue a timely warning for crimes reported to a Pastoral or Professional Counselor because of the confidentiality of those relationships.��

Emergency Notifications

An emergency is an event, expected or unexpected, that poses an immediate threat to the health or safety of students, faculty, and staff. DU faculty, staff, and students are instructed through new employee and student orientations, trainings, emergency/evacuations procedures (posted in visible areas in campus buildings and resident halls), printed materials, the Office of Emergency Preparedness and Fire Safety website, and the DCS website, to call 9-1-1 to report life threatening emergencies and for other emergency assistance.

DU has developed a comprehensive emergency notification system (DU Alert) that allows for the use of text messaging, emails, social media, and digital displays to immediately notify the DU community upon the confirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the health or safety of student, faculty, and staff on the campus.

If an emergency situation arises, DCS will issue an Emergency Notification, which are called a “DU Alert,” to immediately notify the DU community and to expedite emergency response and/or evacuation procedures. The goal of an emergency notification is to notify as many people as possible, as rapidly as possible, with adequate follow-up information. To avoid unnecessary panic, notifications are only sent by the DCS once confirmed by authorized individuals. When DCS follows the emergency notification procedures, DU is not required to issue a timely warning based on the same circumstances, however, DU will provide adequate follow-up information to the community as needed.

DU has implemented a formal process that gives designated DCS personnel the authority to do the following:

• Confirm a significant emergency or dangerous situation;
• develop the content and consider the appropriate segments of the campus community to receive the notification; and
• initiate appropriate emergency notification systems to send an emergency message to all or part of the DU community.

DU confirms an emergency when one or more of the following occurs:

• Confirmation of the incident by an emergency responder in the area;
• Visual confirmation via CCTV systems;
• Audible confirmation either in person or via telephone systems;
• Three unique reports of the incident from members of the public or DU community;
• Confirmation of an impending emergency by an emergency response or relevant agency; or
• Authorization is given by a DCS employee with the rank of Captain or above regardless of confirmation.

The following positions within the DCS are authorized to release information via the emergency notification system after the confirmation process set forth above is completed:

• Chief of Campus Safety
• Deputy Chief of Campus Safety
• Commander of Campus Safety
• Manager of Emergency Preparedness
• Captain (Patrol Operations)
• Clery and Compliance Coordinator
• Campus Safety Sergeants
• Campus Safety Corporals
• Campus Safety Officers
• Campus Safety Communication Technicians

The Chief of Campus Safety and/or their designee may also consult directly with DU’s University Relations to provide an immediate notification to the DU community via the emergency notification mechanisms.

Emergency notifications are issued for incidents that include but are not limited to active threat/active harmer, major hazardous materials release, major fire, bomb threat, civil unrest, terrorist incident, infectious disease outbreak, crimes in progress posing a threat to the physical safety of the community, or a tornado or other extreme weather conditions that would directly impact a DU campus.

The process guiding emergency notification confirms that the Department of Campus Safety will, without delay, and taking into account the safety of the community, determine the content of the notification and initiate the notification system, unless issuing a notification will, in the professional judgment of University Officials, compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to, or otherwise mitigate the emergency.

Once the decision is made to send an emergency notification, DCS Communications personnel or the DCS Manager of Emergency Preparedness or designee will send it to the entire DU community unless notifications to targeted groups are necessary. The Chief of Campus Safety or designee determines if the emergency notification is to be limited to a targeted group(s). In most cases, the emergency notification messages sent by the DCS are created using an established template format developed by the DCS Office of Emergency Preparedness and Fire Safety. When possible, additional incident specific information will be included. The use of this script will help reduce the time between the report of an incident and emergency notification to the community. The text of any additional or follow-up DU Alert messages will be crafted by the DCS Communications Technicians, the Incident Commander (when applicable), and/or the DCS Manager of Emergency Preparedness or designee.

The system used to communicate with the DU community during a crisis or emergency includes several modes that can reach students, faculty, staff and the community at large, including parents, visitors, neighbors, and community partners. These modes include text message, email, social media, DU Safe, and digital display in select areas throughout campus.

Dissemination and Emergency Notification

DU Alert – Mass Text Message: DU has the ability to send DU Alert text messages to students, faculty, staff, and parents of DU students that opt-in and register their personal cellular device in the My4D web portal.

DU Alert – Mass Email Notification: DU has the ability to send emails to all students, faculty and staff members with @du.edu email addresses. All @du.edu email addresses are automatically added to the DU Alert system and cannot opt-out.

Social Media: DU has the ability to send DU Alert messages directly to several social media outlets. DU Alert messages can be sent to the and the .

Digital Displays: Certain digital display systems on the University Park campus are configured to receive and display DU Alert messages.

Telephone Alert System: Members of the DU community have the option to register a telephone number with the system to receive a telephone call with an automated message when the system is used.

Information critical to members of the larger campus community may be disseminated using additional mechanisms at the discretion of the Chief of Campus Safety or their designee.

Communication with the Larger Community

Any individual, even those who are not students, staff, or faculty, can view social media posts and information included on campus digital displays. Parents and guardians of students have the ability to opt into DU Alerts to receive emergency notifications via social media sites (X and Facebook). DU Alerts are sent to the DCS X page, which can be monitored by local media outlets as well. The media are able to view and monitor all DU Alerts via X. Designated individuals in key positions within the ������ Police Department, University Park campus’s local law enforcement agency, are registered with the DU Alert system to receive emergency notifications via text messages and emails.

Any individual are also able to receive these alerts by downloading the DU SAFE app on the and the . Unaffiliated individuals should select “Continue as Guest” and enable notifications under “About/Preference.” Affiliated individuals are able to log in with their DU credentials and enable notifications under “About/Preference.” To receive notifications, individuals must also allow the DU SAFE app to send notifications in their device settings.��

DU Alert

All students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to update contact information for the DU emergency notification system by visiting the Campus Safety DU Alerts webpage,

The system is tested by the DCS Manager of Emergency Preparedness annually. For questions or problems concerning the DU Alert service, individuals are directed to contact the Department of Campus Safety at 303.871.2334.

How to Receive DU Alert Emails

All University email addresses are automatically subscribed to receive DU Alert messages. There is no option to unsubscribe.

How to Receive DU Alert Text Messages

Individuals with a DU identification number may subscribe to receive DU Alert text messages. Students, faculty, or staff can follow the instructions below.

Go to the Campus Safety DU Alert's webpage

• Select the “Sign up” under the notification preferences section.
• Select the Notifications tab under Personal Information on DU’s My4D if not automatically directed.
• Enter up to three text-enabled cell phone numbers, including area code.
• Hit “Submit.”

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