Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,
The safety of DePaul’s campus community is of utmost importance to us, and in the 2023-24 academic year it became a
key initiative of Designing DePaul. We invite you to read a full summary of our progress in multiple areas related to campus safety in 2023-24.
Criminal Incidents for the academic year 2023-24
The majority of on-campus crimes were non-violent and included incidents such as theft, criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and disturbance.
As communicated on May 23, 2024, these numbers also reflect bike and scooter thefts.
Campus and Location
| Sept.
| Oct.
| Nov.
| Dec.
| Jan.
| Feb.
| Mar.
| April | May | June |
Lincoln Park Building Interiors
| 17
| 17 | 10 | 5
| 10 | 7
| 9 | 10 | 12 | 5 |
Lincoln Park Public Spaces
| 28
| 12 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 15 | 10 |
Loop Building Interiors
| 5
| 9 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
Loop Public Spaces
| 1
| 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
Totals
| 51
| 39 | 17 | 8 | 20 | 20 | 13 | 29 | 34 | 21 |
Overall, we saw a common pattern of safety incidents during the academic year. The most incidents occurred in the warmer, early fall and late spring months and the fewest incidents during the winter and early spring months.
Fall 2023 Security Initiatives
Safety and security enhancements in fall quarter 2023 included the following:
- Campus safety summit
- Increased security presence on both campuses
- Improved safe transportation options
- Updated lighting
- Enhanced building security
- DEI training for Public Safety officers
- More emergency call boxes
- Campus safety events
- Security walk-throughs of residence halls.
Building on our Fall Initiatives
Since January 2024 and to date, we have completed and initiated several projects and have continued to focus on increased training of public safety officers.
- We completed over $500,000 in lighting upgrades on the Lincoln Park campus. This work started with improvements to the Sheffield garage and Quad lighting and concluded with updated lighting in the Clifton garage and additional lights along Belden Ave.
- In Lincoln Park, new cameras have been added to key locations, and over 200 existing cameras were upgraded to newer models. We are also implementing a system that integrates nearby cameras with our emergency call towers which allows Public Safety dispatchers to see what is happening more quickly after a call tower is activated. The project is scheduled to be completed by the beginning of fall quarter 2024.
- Public Safety is working with PUSH Studio, a team of designers and technologists that includes DePaul faculty, staff and students, to develop virtual reality training for Public Safety officers to practice soft skills, such as interviewing a student crime victim. In the training, officers practice skills often difficult to gain experience with and obtain, allowing them to develop critical skills and empathetic skills more quickly.
We remain committed to maintaining and improving campus safety by exploring ideas, sharing updates and engaging in conversations with university community members. Thank you for your continued input and dedication to keep our university community safe. Take care, DePaul!
Sincerely,
Bob Wachowski
Director, Public Safety
Rich Wiltse
Vice President, Facility Operations
Gene Zdziarski
Vice President, Student Affairs