DPS Monthly Updates

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

Congratulations to all students who received degrees over the weekend. I commend and applaud you for your accomplishments, especially under the circumstances we have all experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. To all other students and University community members, I wish you all a healthy and restful summer.

As I approach my retirement, I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the Syracuse University community. During the past six years, I have been fortunate to serve an outstanding student body. Through challenges and successes, our students have helped to make the Department of Public Safety (DPS) a better law enforcement agency. It has been my privilege and honor to serve as your chief and I wish you all warmest regards.

With that being said, I want to provide a status update on our investigations into recent bias incidents.

April 29: An unknown subject completed an online form using language that was derogatory to Asian individuals. Since then, we have:

• Reviewed the content of the online form
• Analyzed several law enforcement databases in an attempt to identify a suspect
• Submitted a formal complaint with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center

May 2: A student reported being called a racial slur by the occupant of a vehicle driving by. To investigate, we have:

• Interviewed additional witnesses who came forward
• Reviewed camera footage from the area to identify a possible vehicle involved in the incident
• Ran the vehicle information through multiple vehicle databases

May 12: A group of students, tabling on the Einhorn Family Walk, reported an individual, unaffiliated with the University, stopped by the table and made bias comments about the subject of their student group. The students reported to DPS that the conversation and the individual’s erratic behavior made them uncomfortable, enough in fact to report the suspicious encounter. In response to this incident, we:

• Immediately escorted the individual, who is not affiliated with our University, off campus
• Worked to identify the individual’s real name; the person provided a fake name to DPS
• Increased patrols on Einhorn Family Walk

May 15: Two separate off-campus bias incidents were reported. The first occurred on Saturday, May 15, near the corner of Westcott Street and Hawthorne Street. A group of students reported a vehicle driving by with the occupants shouting language that was derogatory and offensive to the LGBTQ community. On the same day, another student reported as they were walking down University Avenue, toward Madison Street, a vehicle drove by that also had occupants shouting language that was derogatory and offensive to the LGBTQ community. DPS has:

• Reviewed camera footage from the area but to date, have been unsuccessful identifying a possible vehicle involved in the incident
• Run the vehicle information through multiple vehicle databases

If you have information about this case or others, please call DPS at 315.443.2224. You can also anonymously report non-emergency information to DPS through the Silent Witness tool or the Rave Guardian mobile app.

Any bias-motivated incident reported to DPS will be posted on our public site, so that our campus community can remain informed. You can also report a bias incident and receive support through the STOP Bias website.

You can subscribe to receive reports on the Bias Incident Reports page.

I look forward to sharing a few more updates with you over the upcoming months before I retire.

Sincerely,

Chief Bobby Maldonado

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

With more people being vaccinated and the desire to celebrate the end of the academic year, please remember public health guidance still recommends that you wear your mask, maintain social distancing practices, and gather with no more than 10 people only if your space allows for 6 feet of distance between each person. For more information, visit the Stay Safe website.

In this monthly update, I will address:

• Loretta Lynch report recommendation progress
• New peace officer academy
• Cyber security
• Bias investigations

Loretta Lynch Report Recommendation Progress

As we continue our work on the recommendations from the Loretta Lynch report, we have set up a page on our website to share the status of our work.

We will be updating this webpage regularly but will also share major updates in this monthly email communication.

New Peace Officer Academy

I am pleased to announce that we will be hosting a peace officer academy beginning this summer. The position was just recently posted to sujobopps.com and we are actively recruiting. From the Loretta Lynch report, we have made many positive changes to our academy training program and we look forward to adding new individuals to our team.

Cyber Security

Scammers are becoming more creative every day. They are sending phishing emails and text messages that claim to be from people, businesses or organizations you know. Please take a moment to review important tips on how to not fall victim to these scams from the ITS Security department.

Social media is another place where scammers are getting your information. Be wary of allowing too much personal information to be made public, including your full name, date of birth, contact information, location, etc. Make sure to review your privacy settings and set up two-step authentication when you can to help make your account more secure.

Monthly Bias Update

Since my communication last month, I have no new updates to share on the status of our investigations. As we do have updates, we will update our chart on the website, and share any developments in this monthly email. It is also never too late to come forward with information. You can call the DPS at 315.443.2224, submit information anonymously via the Silent Witness tool or the Rave Guardian mobile app. In addition, to report a bias incident or to receive support, visit the Stop Bias website.

I wish all our students the best of luck as they wrap up the remainder of the semester.

Sincerely,
Chief Bobby Maldonado

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

I hope everyone is having a successful spring semester thus far. As the nicer weather returns to Syracuse, this is a perfect time to remind you about the best way to protect your property. If you open doors and/or windows to let the sun and breeze in, remember to close and lock them when you leave your residence or office, even if it’s just for a short time.

In this monthly update, I will address:

• Bias investigations
• Loretta Lynch report recommendation progress
• Rave Guardian safety app
• See something, say something

Monthly Bias Update

First, a status update on our investigations into recent bias incidents.

March 10: Flyers posted in academic buildings (Eggers Hall, Huntington Hall and the Hall of Languages) on campus containing language derogatory to Chinese individuals.

• Building-by-building searches for additional flyers (none were found)
• CCTV footage review (flyers were posted outside the range of cameras)
• Interviewed multiple individuals (to date, no witnesses or suspects have been identified)

Feb. 27: A student was walking into an off-campus apartment when two unknown individuals reportedly used anti-Asian language.

• Immediate interview of the victim and canvass of the area
• No available CCTV footage of the area (other cameras outside the immediate area reviewed but did not provide any leads)
• Two additional canvasses and interviews of neighbors conducted (this included checking for home security cameras)

Feb. 17: “Zoombombing” Incident

• The account names of the unknown users were run through multiple databases (this did not lead to any viable leads)
• Worked with Syracuse University Information Technology Services to identify IP addresses (the individuals used methods to obscure their true location to avoid identification)
• Syracuse Police Department, State Police and the FBI were all notified about this incident

We ask for our community’s help as we to work to identify those responsible for these incidents. To report a bias incident or to report information about a previous incident, please contact the Department of Public Safety (DPS) directly at 315.443.2224. If you would like to anonymously report NON-EMERGENCY information to DPS, you can use the Silent Witness tool or submit anonymous tips via the Rave Guardian app. Any bias-motivated incident reported to DPS will be posted on our public site, so that our campus community can remain informed. You can also report a bias incident and receive support through the STOP Bias website. You may subscribe to the bias incident page at dps.syr.edu/public-information/bias-incident-reports.

Loretta Lynch Report Recommendation Progress

On Feb. 22, 2021, former U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch shared the report that she and her team drafted after completing their independent review of our department.

Since that time, the staff at DPS has been establishing a plan to meet these recommendations and has already completed some of the work. This includes:

• We published a page on our website that will host our policies and procedures.
• Our Duty Manual and a number of other standard operating procedures have been published on the Policies and Procedures page.
• Officers are already on rotation working with our community policing unit.
• We have started to schedule upcoming trainings on hate crimes, procedural justice, principled policing and victims of trauma-informed policing, with additional trainings to be scheduled.

In addition, other work is underway on many of the other recommendations.

Don’t Forget to Download the Rave Guardian Safety App

In January, Syracuse University transitioned from the LiveSafe app to the new Rave Guardian app. LiveSafe is no longer available to the campus community. However, Rave Guardian provides all of the same features that users have grown accustomed to, while additionally providing seamless integration into the Orange Alert system. You are able to report tips anonymously to DPS, utilize the Safe Walk timer, access important campus safety resources and connect with DPS or 911 in the event of an emergency.

If you have not already done so, I encourage you to take the time to visit the Apple or Google Play store and download the app by searching for “Rave Guardian.” To learn more about the new Rave Guardian App, visit the DPS website.

This app is another great way to report the suspicious activity that I share below.

See Something, Say Something

Be aware of your surroundings! Many crimes occur right under the noses of people who just did not notice anything suspicious. Your safety and security ultimately depend on you. You must take responsibility for your own safety.

Suspicious activity is anything even slightly out of the ordinary for the area or time of day in which it occurs. According to the Syracuse Police Department, the most obvious things to watch for and report are:

• Strangers entering your neighbor’s apartment
• Strangers trying doors to see if they are locked
• The sound of breaking glass or other loud noises
• Persons carrying bolt cutters and tools—especially near bicycles
• Persons running—especially if carrying something valuable (They could be leaving a crime scene.)

For those living off campus, report all crime and any suspicious activity to the Syracuse Police Department (911) and for those on campus the Department of Public Safety (315.443.2224).

I hope you find this information useful and valuable as an important member of our campus community. I look forward to sharing more with you over the coming months.

Sincerely,
Chief Bobby Maldonado

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

As we start a new semester, we are starting a new format for monthly emails from the Department of Public Safety (DPS). Each month I will share important safety-related information and updates. For this month, we are going to highlight the following topics:

• New Rave Guardian safety app
• COVID reminders for the Spring 2021 semester
• Monthly bias update

New Rave Guardian Safety App

Earlier this month, we announced that we are transitioning from the LiveSafe app to the new Rave Guardian app. This new app still provides all of the same features that our users have grown accustomed to, while providing seamless integration into our Orange Alert system. You will still be able to report tips anonymously to DPS, utilize the Safe Walk timer, have easy access to important campus safety resources and connect with DPS or 911 in the event of an emergency.

I encourage you to take the time to visit the Apple or Google Play store and download the app by searching for “Rave Guardian.” Later this month, we will send out a text message to the campus community with the link to download the app. To learn more about the new Rave Guardian App, visit the DPS website at dps.syr.edu.

COVID Reminders

As we work together to keep our community members safe during these extraordinary times, know that the team at DPS is collaborating with departments across campus to educate and enforce the University’s guidelines relating to COVID-19. Please keep the Stay Safe Pledge at the top of your mind and stay safe, stay healthy and do your part.

Monthly Bias Update

Since my last update, there have been no new developments on previous reports. As a reminder, future updates will be posted on the table that we have created on the DPS website.

To report a bias incident, please contact DPS directly at 315.443.2224. If you would like to anonymously report NON-EMERGENCY information to DPS, you can use the Silent Witness tool or submit anonymous tips via the Rave Guardian app. Any bias-motivated incident reported to DPS will be posted on our public site, so that our campus community can remain informed. You can also report a bias incident and receive support through the STOP Bias website.

Sign up to subscribe to the bias incident reports.

I hope you find this information useful and valuable as an important member of our campus community. I look forward to sharing more with you over the coming months.

Sincerely,
Chief Bobby Maldonado