Welcome to a new academic year. Please take a moment to review the safety strategies and communication processes that guide how the Department of Public Safety (DPS) keeps our community informed and safe.
Safety Strategies
Every member of our campus community plays a role in keeping Syracuse University safe:
- Download the Orange Safe app to receive alerts, connect with DPS and access resources.
- Follow Syracuse DPS on social media for important updates.
- Use sidewalks, crosswalks and walk signs when traveling across campus.
- Always lock your doors, windows and vehicles. Keep valuables out of sight.
- Use a U-shaped lock for bikes and scooters and register them with DPS.
- Travel in groups after dark or request the Safety Escort Shuttle via Orange Safe (8 p.m.–6 a.m.).
- Stay alert to phishing and scam attempts. Never share personal information with suspicious contacts.
Additional safety strategies are available on our website and in the Orange Safe app.
How DPS Communicates
DPS issues broad emergency communications when there is an active or imminent threat to campus, an active crime scene requiring the community to avoid an area or when a suspect is at large and we need the community’s help. Broad communications may not be issued when there is no continuing threat, when another agency has jurisdiction and directs otherwise, or when doing so would jeopardize an active investigation.
Public Safety Messages (Timely Warnings)
Public Safety Messages are distributed via email, the DPS website and DPS social media. There are three types:
- Public Safety Notice—a timely warning related to an ongoing concern for violence.
- Public Safety Information—a warning related to a property crime pattern or general safety information.
- Public Safety Update—an update to a previously issued notice or a threat that has passed.
Emergency Notification (Orange Alert)
The Orange Alert system provides rapid notification to the Syracuse University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry communities in the event of a verified emergency or immediate threat. Alerts are sent via email, text, phone, social media and the Orange Safe app. Sirens on the Shaw Quadrangle, Whitman School of Management, Falk College complex and South Campus housing will also sound. After an Orange Alert message is broadcast, more detailed follow-up information will be provided through various means, including but not limited to the University’s website, University social media resources, email, phone and campus radio and television resources.
Update Your Contact Information
To receive Orange Alert and Public Safety communications, all students, faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to go to MySlice, log in using your NetID and password, select Student Home or Employee Home depending on your primary affiliation with Syracuse University, select the Personal Profile tile, select “Orange Alert Contacts” from the navigation menu and then review your information.
If you need to add, update or delete contact information, select “Contact Details” from the navigation menu. Utilize the “Orange Alert Private Phone” feature to add a secondary/emergency contact (i.e., parent, spouse, sibling, etc.) to receive alerts.
DPS is available 24/7 at 315.443.2224 or via the Orange Safe app. Wishing you a safe semester.