Initiatives
Illinois State University is committed to a campus-wide approach to safety, security, and the well-being of our faculty, staff, students, and the overall campus community. The University continues to demonstrate this commitment through the implementation of various safety and security initiatives, some of which are listed here.
Although the vast majority of our students, faculty, staff, and visitors do not experience crime at Illinois State University, crime sometimes occurs despite our best efforts. The best protection against campus crime is an aware, informed, and alert campus community that reports crime and suspicious behavior in a timely manner while using reason and caution during their daily activities.
As part of the overall effort to prevent crime, the University utilizes the following resources:
- A 24/7 professional, campus police force of 23 full-time officers. The University also has mutual aid agreements with the cities of Normal and Bloomington. Officers can be dispatched from city locations to campus within minutes.
- More than 75 emergency call boxes, which serve as a direct, outdoor link to police from almost everywhere on campus.
- In the residence halls, all entry doors to residential areas are locked at all times. Residents may access their building by swiping their Redbird Card at card readers located on the exterior entrance of their building.
- Frequent reviews of the University Emergency Management Plan - incorporating individual departmental action plans, specific responsibilities, emergency notification process, training requirements, table top exercises, and practice drills - to be better prepared in the event of an emergency.
- ISU Emergency Alert, which gives the University the ability to quickly send warning messages to the campus population through their campus e-mail addresses and also to mobile phones or other devices that have been registered by students in the My.IllinoisState.edu portal. Warning messages will also be posted to the IllinoisState.edu homepage.
- Public address systems in every residence hall, which allow hall staff to contact residents in the case of an emergency.