Campus Safety Alerts
Emergency Notifications & Timely Warnings
The Clery Act requires institutions of higher education to issue two types of safety alerts: emergency notifications and timely warnings. Emergency notifications are issued for immediate threats to the health or safety of the campus community, while timely warnings are issued for Clery-reportable incidents that pose a significant or ongoing threat to the campus community.
Emergency Notifications
Emergency notifications are sent through CPP's Safety Alert System when there is confirmation of an imminent or immediate threat to the health and safety of the campus community. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Severe weather warning (e.g., flash flooding, tsunami, hurricane, etc.)
- Environmental emergency within an on-campus facility (e.g., hazardous chemical spill, fire, earthquake, building collapse)
- Criminal activity with an imminent threat to Campus community (e.g., active shooter, murder, fleeing suspect with a weapon)
- Public Health Emergency (e.g., measles outbreak, swine flu outbreak, etc.)
The systemwide Emergency Notification Policy outlines the procedures that the University Police Department (UPD) follows when sending emergency notifications.
All faculty, staff, and students are automatically enrolled to receive emergency notifications. The Safety Alert System uses contact information from the BroncoDirect database. Employees and students are encouraged to log into BroncoDirect and update their personal contact information as needed.
Timely Warnings
Timely warnings are issued when a Clery-reportable incident presents a serious or ongoing threat to the campus community. Federal guidance in the Clery Act Appendix for the FSA Handbook suggests that timely warnings should be issued "as soon as information is available". These alerts aim to inform students and employees about the incident and share relevant safety tips, empowering them to take precautions and help prevent further harm.
The systemwide Timely Warning Policy outlines the procedures that UPD and the Clery Director follow in reviewing incidents and sending timely warnings. The Chief of Police (or the management designee) has the ultimate authority and responsibility for determining whether to issue a timely warning.
At CPP, timely warnings are distributed to the campus community by email.