Safety & Emergency Contacts
Safety Planning
- Download the UChicago Safe Mobile Safety App. Features include a "mobile blue light" that simultaneously calls and sends your location to the University of Chicago Police department (UCPD).
- Sign-up for cAlert, the University’s electronic emergency mass notification system.
- Utilize UCPD's lobby as a Safe Zone in various situations.
- Request a Safety Escort through UCPD.
- Protect your property by registering your bike and laptop with UCPD, and reading through tips on securing your residence.
- Take a Safety Defense Class.
- Utilize the Lyft Ride Smart at UChicago, which offers UChicago students 10 free rides per month (up to $15 off per ride) on all late-night rides within the service area on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 9 p.m. until 4 a.m. Please visit the program's webpage to review the service area.
The University has temporarily made Lyft Ride Smart at UChicago available 7 evenings per week, from 5 p.m until 4 a.m. This change is in effect through the end of the 2021-22 academic year.
How to contact the University of Chicago Police Department
To call the UCPD in an emergency:
- 773-702-8181 from any phone
- 1-2-3 from a campus phone
- Press the red button on an emergency phone. Campus has nearly 400 emergency phones; look for a blue light atop a white pole. (Map of phone locations.)
UCPD headquarters is located at 850 E. 61st Street and is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They can be reached via email at at cops@uchicago.edu Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. More about the University of Chicago Police Department.
Chicago Police Department
911 or, from a campus phone, 9-911
University Dean-on-call and University Sexual Assault Dean-on-call
- The Dean-on-Call will respond to student emergencies and critical incidents 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- A separate Sexual Assault Dean-on-Call is also available around the clock and is trained as a Sexual Assault Survivor Advocate through the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault. For more information and resources about gender-based misconduct, see the University's UMatter website.
- Students may call UCPD Dispatch at 773-702-8181 and ask for the Dean-on-call or Sexual Assault Dean-on-call or may reach the Dean-on-call or Sexual Assault Dean-on-call directly by calling 773-834-HELP (4357).
More safety resources
UChicago HELP provides a comprehensive listing of emergency and crisis resources.
In the Law School
- We have a VCA (Visitor Control Attendant) on duty at the front desk each weekday evening from 5 p.m. to midnight (later during exams) and all day Saturday and Sunday. VCAs monitor building entry and may inspect bags. Any problems in the building should be reported to the VCA immediately.
- If you are parked in the Law School parking lot late at night, the VCA can watch you walk to your car.