Timely Warnings
The University of Minnesota issues Timely Warnings to the campus community for crimes that occur on University property or in areas adjacent to campus. Crimes that may trigger a Timely Warning include criminal homicide, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, arson or any other crime that the University feels pose an ongoing threat to the university community.
The Department of Public Safety is required to issue Timely Warning Notifications for crimes that meet the criteria under the Federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.
Timely Warnings are distributed via email to all University of Minnesota Twin Cities students, faculty and staff. Individuals who are not part of the University may also subscribe to receive Timely Warnings and other public safety information by clicking here.
Because a well-informed community is an asset to public safety, Timely Warnings include as much information as possible about the incident and the suspect – including the detailed description of a suspect as provided by the victim. That may include a complete physical description of the suspect such as race, approximate age, height and body type, as well as any unique identifying characteristics such as an accent, a distinctive article of clothing, or a vehicle used in a crime.
SAFE U Alerts and other Emergency Notifications
SAFE-U Alerts is the University of Minnesota’s mass notification text messaging system. SAFE-U Alerts are sent only when a dangerous condition exists on campus, or for campus closures due to weather. All students, faculty and staff are automatically registered with the SAFE-U Alert system. Anyone is allowed to opt out of the system at any time, but anyone who opts out will not receive emergency SAFE-U Alerts.
With a campus as large as the University of Minnesota’s, no single method of communication can effectively reach everyone during an emergency. The University's goal is to communicate emergency information in many different ways to ensure that the most people receive notification as quickly as possible. In addition to SAFE-U Alerts, a number of other tools are used to distribute emergency information:
- Tone Alert radios
- On-the-ground public safety personnel
- Campus-wide email
- The University home page and campus websites
- Campus-wide outdoor public address systems
- University of Minnesota Facebook page
- University of Minnesota Twitter
- Digital Signs throughout campuses
Many students and employees live in the neighborhoods that surround the campus. These neighborhoods are not the jurisdiction of the UMPD and most are outside of the University’s Clery Act responsibility. However, when a serious crime occurs in an area just outside of our Clery geography, the University works closely with our law enforcement partners to determine if a public safety notification should be issued to the University community.
Community members are encouraged to sign up for community and neighborhood alerts for off-campus areas. This can be done through the police department where you live.
Minneapolis Police Department information
St. Paul Police Department information
Falcon Heights area
Predatory/Sexual Offenders
Certain felony level sex and other predatory offenders are required by law to keep law enforcement agencies apprised of their current residence, employment, and school address, as well as any changes to that information. Some of these offenders have demonstrated by their past behavior that they are part of a group who pose the greatest risk to the public when released. This does not mean that they will commit a new crime, just that they are part of a group of persons who might.
State and federal law requires UMPD to advise the University community of the release or residence of such predatory offenders in our community. Any such predatory/sexual offenders that are attending classes or are employed at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities can be found here. These individuals are not wanted by law enforcement at this time and have served the sentence imposed upon them by the court. The use of this information to threaten, harass, or intimidate such individuals may be a crime and will not be tolerated.
The website does not contain information regarding predatory sex offenders who live or work near, but not on, University of Minnesota property. A list of such offenders may be found on the Minnesota Department of Corrections website.