Policy: Emergency Notifications and Timely Warnings Platteville Main Campus

Date Revised: February 22, 2022

Date Effective: September 2018

Senior Leader: Provost and Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services

Responsible University Official: Chief of University Police 

Policy Owner: Chief of University Police

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POLICY STATEMENT

REASON FOR POLICY

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PROCEDURES

Emergency Notifications

H. An Emergency Notification will normally be distributed by text/email alert and any or all the methods listed below, depending on the segment of campus affected or size of the target audience required to receive the message. The Public Information Officer with approval of the Chief of Police or designee will initiate one or more of the following methods:

(Please see document below for a list of UW-Platteville staff with the authority to issue an Emergency Notification)

TIMELY WARNINGS

• Criminal homicide: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, manslaughter by negligence
• Sexual assault: rape, fondling, incest, statutory rape
• Robbery
• Aggravated assault
• Burglary
• Motor vehicle theft
• Arson
• Domestic violence
• Dating violence
• Stalking
• Weapons law violations
• Drug abuse violations
• Liquor law violations
• Hate Crimes (All the above) and;
  • Larceny-theft
  • Simple assault
  • Intimidation
  • Destruction/damage/vandalism of property

 A. The following factors should be considered when determining whether to issue a Timely  Warning:

1. The location of the crime
2. The nature of the crime (serious/non-serious, violent/non-violent)
3. The nature of the threat (general threat versus limited threat to a specific  person)
4. Whether or not there is a continuing danger to the community or a continuing crime  pattern.

1. Aggravated Assault (cases involving assaults among known parties, such as two roommates fighting which results in an aggravated injury, will be evaluated on a case by case basis to determine if the individual is believed to be an on-going threat to the larger UW-Platteville community)
2. Robbery involving force or violence (cases including pick pocketing and purse snatching will typically not result in the issuance of a Timely Warning, but will be assessed on a case by case basis)
3. Sexual Assault (considered on a case by case basis depending on the facts of the case, when and where the incident occurred, when it was reported, and the amount of information known by the UW-Platteville Police Department)

B. When issuing a Timely Warning notice, some information may be withheld if there is a possible risk of compromising law enforcement efforts to investigate and/or solve the crime.

C. When the Department becomes aware of a situation that meets the criteria for a Timely Warning, the Officer on-duty will contact the University Police Chief or designee. The Police Chief or designee will work with UW- Platteville’s Public Information Officer to disseminate the following information

1. Date and time or  timeframe of the incident
2. A brief description of the incident
3. Information that will promote safety and potentially aid in the prevention of similar crimes
4. Suspect description(s) when deemed appropriate and if there is sufficient detail. The description of subject will only be included in the alert if there is a sufficient amount of detail to describe the individual.
5. Police agency contact information
6. Other information as deemed appropriate by the Chief or designee

E. When other entities on campus learn of an incident in which a Timely Warning may be needed, he/she should share that information with the University Police Department by calling 911 or 608.342.1584 or stopping into the Police Department located at 135 Brigham Hall to determine if it meets the criteria for a Timely Warning.

1. A campus-wide text message and email blast to the UW-Platteville community;
2. Message posted on the home page of the UW-Platteville website;
3. Message posted through UW-Platteville’s Facebook and Twitter social media accounts;
4. Message delivered through the University’s fire alarm system;
5. Message posted on the University’s Emergency Blog located at http://emergency.uwplatt.edu;
6. Message delivered through UW-Platteville’s Update Line. In the event of a major campus incident, UW- Platteville will activate phone number 608.342.7000. This is a telephone number that provides a recorded message with current incident updates.

G. The University does not issue Timely Warnings if:

1. The Chief of Police or designee determines there is no serious or continuing threat to the safety of UW- Platteville campus community.
2. The subject(s) is apprehended and the threat of imminent danger to members of the UW–Platteville community have been mitigated by the apprehension.
3. If a report was not filed with the University Police Department or if the University Police Department was not notified of the crime in a matter that would allow the department to post a “timely” Timely Warning to the community. A general guideline will include a report that is filed more than 7-10 days after the date of the alleged incident may not allow the department to post a “timely” Timely Warning to the community. This type of situation will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and may fall under the Emergency Notification section of this policy.

STUDENT AND EMPLOYEE REGISTRATION FOR TIMELY WARNINGS, EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS, AND PIONEER ALERTS

Students and employees are automatically enrolled to receive Pioneer Alerts emergency text messages, unless they opt- out of the Rave Alert program. Student cell phone numbers are retrieved from the UW-Platteville PASS system. If an employee provides a cell phone number to Human Resources, he/she is automatically enrolled in the system as well. For employees that did not provide a cell phone number, or if a student chooses to add a parent, relative, or friend into the Rave Alert system, please register here: https://go.uwplatt.edu/rave

FORMS/INSTRUCTIONS