Reporting Crimes and Emergencies

How to Report Crimes and Other Emergencies

DU campus community members (students, faculty and staff members), contracted employees and guests are strongly encouraged to accurately and promptly report all criminal incidents, suspicious persons and activities, and emergency situations occurring at all DU owned or controlled facilities and property, or at non-campus locations owned or controlled by DU to the local law enforcement agency where the incident occurs. Reports of crime on the University Park Campus should be made to the Denver Police Department and the DU Department of Campus Safety.

These incidents should be reported to DU’s Department of Campus Safety in a timely manner to provide any needed support services, perform follow-up, and allow for proper notifications and reporting of crimes.

Reports of crime on the Western Colorado Campus should be made to the Glenwood Springs Police Department and Campus Safety. Reports of crime on the Four Corners Campus should be made to the Durango Police Department and Campus Safety.

Prompt reporting aids in providing timely warning notices to the community when appropriate, may aid in the prevention of similar crimes and may assist in the investigation and apprehension of the perpetrator(s). DU encourages accurate and prompt reporting of all criminal offenses, including when the victim of a crime elects to, or is unable to, make such a report.

In case of an emergency, call 911 from your cell phone or landline. The DCS may be reached in an emergency at 303.871.3000.

In the City and County of Denver, the DPD dispatch center hastext-to-911 capabilities. Because this method is slower, it is only recommended during those times when it is not safe for you to speak because of an immediate threat.

Assistance Stations are fixed phones placed throughout the DU University Park Campus that provide a direct link to the DCS Communication’s Center. These stations are blue in color, feature the words “Assistance” on the tower or wall box, and have a push button on the front that reads “Call.” They may be used to provide assistance to anyone who is in distress, needs emergency assistance, or general campus assistance.

Reporting Non-Emergency Crimes or Incidents

Non-emergency crime reports and security or public safety related matters should be reported to DU’s Department of Campus Safety by calling the non-emergency phone line, 303.871.2334 (1-2334) and/or the Denver Police Department’s non-emergency line if on the University Park Campus at 720.913.2000 (main) or 720-913-1300 (District 3).

If on the Four Corners Campus, contact the Durango Police Department at 970.385.2900.

If on the Western Colorado Campus, contact the Glenwood Springs Police Department at 970.384.6500.

Campus Safety Tip Line

The Department of Campus Safety operates an anonymous tip phone line for campus community members and others to report safety and security information as well as concerns about criminal incidents and suspicious behavior on campus or non-campus properties owned or controlled by DU. Contact the Department of Campus Safety’s Anonymous Tip line at 303.871.3130 (1-3130).

Silent Witness Reporting

If you see a crime or disruptive behavior occurring on campus and you would like to report it anonymously, you may do so at https://www.du.edu/campussafety/report-incident.

Reporting Off-Campus Crimes

Crimes or incidents occurring outside the Denver Police Department’s jurisdiction should be reported to the agency having jurisdiction where the incident occurred. The DU Department of Campus Safety should be notified as well to aid in the collection of crime statistics for this report as well as allow DU to provide available resources and services to DU students, faculty, and staff who area survivor of a crime.

Reporting to Campus Security Authorities

It is important for the campus community to report criminal incidents directly to the Department of Campus Safety and the Denver Police Department. However, some survivors of crimes may be more inclined to report a crime to someone other than Campus Safety or the police. Another way to report is through a person designated by DU because of their position/role on campus as a Campus Security Authority (CSA). CSA’s include students, staff/employees of DU, and certain faculty members. Once a person is designated as a CSA because of their position, they are provided training on their role and responsibilities.

Under the Clery Act regulations, a crime is “reported” when it is brought to the attention of a designated CSA. If a CSA receives the crime information and believes it was provided in good faith, they must report it to the Department of Campus Safety to allow them to consider whether to make a timely warning report or emergency notification and for inclusion in the annual statistical disclosure.

CSAs may report directly to the Department of Campus Safety by calling 303.871.2334, in-person at the Campus Safety Center at2130 South High Street or by submitting a report into Maxient that is sent to either SRR or EOIX.

CSAs encompass four groups of individuals and organizations associated with an institution, as follows:

  1. A campus police department or a campus security department of an institution.
  • DU Department of Campus Safety employees are considered Campus Security Authorities under this definition.
  1. Any individual or individuals who have responsibility for campus security but who do not constitute a campus police department or a campus security department (e.g. an individual who is responsible for monitoring the entrance to institutional property).
  • Non-Campus safety personnel responsible for security presence or access control authority on DU owned or controlled property. This includes, but is not limited to, contracted security staff and student ID checkers for DU.
  1. Any individual or organization specified in an institution’s statement of campus security police as an individual or organization to which students and employees should report criminal offenses.
  • Officials with significant responsibility for student and campus activities category is defined broadly to facilitate complete coverage and thorough reporting of crimes. To determine which individuals or organizations are CSAs, DU considers job functions that involve relationships with students.
  1. An official of an institution who has significant responsibility for student and campus activities, including, but not limited to, student housing, student discipline and campus judicial proceedings. An official is defined as any person who has the authority and duty to take action or respond to particular issues on behalf of the institution.
  • DU’s Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities is the entity designated as having the authority and duty to hear and determine student conduct cases on behalf of DU. Personnel assigned to the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities are considered Campus Security Authorities under this definition.

Some examples of CSAs include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Campus Safety Officers and Campus Safety staff
  • Student Rights & Responsibilities Staff
  • Equal Opportunity & Title IX Staff
  • Housing & Residential Education Staff
  • Resident Assistants and Desk Assistants
  • Student Affairs & Inclusive Excellence Staff
  • Athletics Director, Athletics Staff, and Athletics Coaches
  • Faculty advisors to a student group
  • Associate Director, Fraternity & Sorority Life
  • Contracted security personnel

Confidential Reporting

Campus Pastoral Counselors and Campus Professional Counselors, when acting as such, are not considered to be CSAs and are not required to report crimes for inclusion into the annual disclosure of crime statistics. Counselors are defined as:

  • Pastoral Counselor - a person who is associated with a religious order or denomination, is recognized by that religious order or denomination as someone who provides confidential counseling, and is functioning within the scope of that recognition as a pastoral counselor.
  • Professional Counselor - a person whose official responsibilities include providing mental health counseling to members of the institution’s community and who is functioning within the scope of the counselor’s license or certification.

At the time of this report, DU does not employ or retain the services of a Pastoral Counselor. DU does employ licensed professional counselors who are considered exempt from reporting requirements. DU encourages counselors, if and when they deem it appropriate, to inform those they counsel of procedures for reporting crimes on a voluntary, confidential basis for inclusion in the annual disclosure of crime statistics. However, there are no procedures or policies that require licensed professional counselors to report crimes disclosed to them.

Anonymous Reporting

DU’s Department of Campus Safety has an anonymous reporting tip line as a reporting option at 303.871.3130 (1-3130). Additionally, reports or information may be submitted online with the option to exclude personally identifying information of involved parties. These online reporting avenues include:

Office of Equal Opportunity & Title IX online reporting form at: https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?UnivofDenver&layout_id=110 

Student Rights & Responsibilities online referral form at: https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?UnivofDenver

In such a case, the report will not be confidential in that the information will be distributed but will be anonymous since the identity of the reporter will not be known.

Reports of crimes made to the Center for Advocacy, Prevention and Empowerment (CAPE) are also submitted to the Department of Campus Safety without any identifying information for inclusion in the annual crime statistics.

Anonymous reports are counted and disclosed to the Department of Education in the annual crimes statistics for the institution and are listed in the crime statistics tables included in this report.

Prohibition on Retaliation

The University has an established Retaliation and Whistleblower Protection Policy that strictly prohibits retaliation against any member of the University community for reporting, inquiring, or participating in an investigation regarding non-compliance with and/or violation of policies, laws, rules or regulations applicable to the University. This prohibition would include protections for any individual for exercising their rights or responsibilities under any provision of the Clery Act.

Next Section: Enforcement and Jurisdictions

Back to homepage and table of contents