As the academic and fiscal years draw to a close, it’s time for a look-back and a report out on some of what the Division of Campus Community Safety (DCCS) accomplished this year.
DCCS, which includes SafeCampus, UW Emergency Management, UW Police (Seattle campus), Business & Academic Continuity & Resiliency and Crisis Communications, is guided by the goals of accountability, transparency, innovation and equity. Putting these goals into practice at the ground level in a difficult, unstable world can be a challenge. DCCS team members show up to take on that challenge every day with energy, creativity and empathy.
A few items of note from the past year.
Preparing for the next emergency… and the next one
UW Emergency Management (UWEM) started the school year with the President’s Cabinet and the Board of Deans & Chancellors in a September tabletop exercise predicated on a spiraling Seattle campus incident. What better way to start the year than catastrophizing together! Seriously, though, this time dedicated to walking through roles and responsibilities is critical to how teams perform in a real crisis.
UWEM provided support during multiple events in the past year, assisting the University’s Incident Coordination Team and Weather Status Assessment Group for events involving severe weather, major protest activities, campus infrastructures challenges (like power outages and water pressure issues) and more.
To help the UW better prepare for natural disasters and other emergencies in the future, UWEM and campus partners in December 2024 began work on a tool that identifies the top natural and human-made risks to UW’s Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma campuses. This Threats and Hazard Identification Risk Assessment will be a building block for updating the University’s emergency plans.
This year UWEM added Deputy Director Rob Sabarese and Training and Exercise Manager Michael Palacioz to the team, allowing UWEM to fully step into emergency response planning and developing a preparedness and roles/responsibilities training calendar. Watch for the training calendar to go live on the UWEM website this fall.
Safety planning and group de-escalation training
SafeCampus, UW’s model violence prevention and safety planning program, received slightly fewer calls from students, faculty and staff across all of UW in the past academic year. However, cases proved more complex and were more likely to involve members of the public or unknown individuals.
This may reflect broader health and safety challenges in the surrounding city, including persistently high numbers of homeless and unwell individuals in Seattle, as well as substance abuse and mental health crises.
The unpredictability of some encounters in public and open-campus spaces was a key factor in the development last year of a new de-escalation training, designed to better equip university staff and faculty to respond to moments of tension with care and clarity. As of this year SafeCampus has trained 380 UW students, faculty and staff in de-escalation. To request training for your area, please reach out to SafeCampus at safecampus@uw.edu.
Recruitment, reaccreditation and laptop reunions
UW Police Department officers on the Seattle campus responded to 11,696 calls for service over the academic year. This included too many calls regarding stolen laptops and bikes. In good news, officers reunited laptops and bikes with the rightful owners a surprising number of times!
While UWPD remains in high recruitment mode to fill vacancies with great people, In the past year, the department has welcomed three new UWPD officers, four new Campus Safety Responders, and eight new security guards. As a small department serving a big community in a big city, UWPD personnel have worked hard and smart.
UWPD is the first and only university law enforcement agency in Washington state accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). This is a chance for UWPD to test itself against the highest standards (532 of them, to be exact) for excellence in law enforcement. UWPD, which is also accredited by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, will find out this summer if it earned re-accreditation for a 25th year.
Thanks to generous support from the community, UWPD continued to provide safe rides home with a security guard for students and staff learning or working late. Last year, the program, previously known as Husky NightWalk became Husky SafeTrip in order to better describe this service. The service name changed just before the start of last fall quarter. The service remains popular. UWPD started working with a student group this past year on the possibility of an app for SafeTrip dispatch instead of calling UWPD to request a ride. Stay tuned.
Business continuity planning gets a boost
UW’s Business, Academic, and Research Continuity (BARC) program unveiled new tools this year to help departments and programs make plans to continue services during and after a disruption. The needs could range from how long a unit can work from home in extreme weather, to how a department can continue to function in the event the entire email system goes down.
In February 2025, BARC introduced the new Husky Ready online planning tool, a user-friendly platform with embedded guidance to make the continuity planning process easier and provide more in-depth information for departments using the plan during and after a disruption.
To support effective implementation, UW introduced BARC cohorts — a structured, six-month program that guides unit leads through the continuity planning process via monthly meetings (with snacks). The first cohort began on March 12 with a second starting in July. Want to join a cohort or learn more about the planning process? Submit the BARC Contact Us form or email continuity@uw.edu.
Ensuring free speech and a safe learning environment
World and national events continue to heighten anxiety for many in our campus communities. This year we saw multiple campus protests in Seattle and a redoubling of efforts to protect the exercise of free speech and ensure all students, staff and faculty feel safe on campuses. As a small department, UWPD relied on the support of area law enforcement partners to ensure staffing numbers appropriate for events.
DCCS units actively collaborated this year with partners in UW’s Compliance & Risk Services Division to initiate setting up a new Title VI office for reports of harassment and discrimination based on race, national origin and shared ancestry. This will be a central office for investigating antisemitism and Islamophobia. Watch for launch this fall.
Renewing REACH and launching Husky Assist
It’s been two years already since UW and REACH signed a contract for an outreach worker to connect with unhoused, often unwell people on the Seattle campus. The experience of the last two years has shown REACH to be a valuable partner in building relationships that turn into opportunities for their unhoused clients. That has meant basic deescalation with someone in crisis, but it’s also meant in some cases connections to temporary and permanent housing and regular access to medication.
Based on feedback from building coordinators, UWPD, Safe Campus and others, we’re renewing with REACH for another two years.
In this past school year, DCCS made significant progress on launching an on-call mental health crisis intervention team for students, staff and faculty on the Seattle campus. Husky Assist, a team of skilled and compassionate mental health crisis responders, will continue to provide on-campus support for individuals experiencing emotional distress, suicidal ideation, self-harm or in need of a welfare check. The team may respond independently or with UW police officers, depending on the safety of the situation.
Long a goal, President Ana Mari Cauce and Provost Tricia Serio dedicated funding for a new team starting in this past academic year. Since then, a broad group has collaborated on the basics of building a program. A few staff visited Oregon State University’s program this past November for lessons. In May, Husky Assist welcomed its first director, Jennifer Magnani.
Watch for launch details coming this fall.
Crisis communications and U District advocacy
Over the past academic year the Crisis Communications team for the Seattle campus met 27 times. The teams at UW Bothell and UW Tacoma met 11 times and nine times respectively. While not all activations result in an alert, these teams functioned effectively in assessing a situation and determining if an alert should be sent.
Spring quarter saw a higher number of incidents involving guns being brandished or fired. Gun violence on or near campus is unacceptable. DCCS and UWPD staff met this spring quarter with the new Chief of the Seattle Police Department and the new SPD North Precinct Commander to discuss mutual interests in campus and neighborhood safety. In addition, UWPD and SPD met with Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic house leaders to air concerns and share advice for safety north of campus.
Thank you
So many partners contribute to incident prevention, education, training and emergency response, including Facilities, Environmental Health & Safety, UW Medicine and Student Life, to name just a few. The information sharing and collaborations across campuses makes all three teams stronger, better and more effective in serving the needs of our students and campus communities.
Finally, thank you to all the students, staff and faculty thinking about what it means to be together in classrooms, labs, libraries, offices and open spaces in what can feel like a difficult, sharp-edged time.
DCCS team members show up to take on that challenge every day with energy, creativity and empathy. We are inspired by the incredible acts of compassion and support between individuals and teams each and every day. Happy summer.