A new notification system, Campus Safety Notices, will replace the University of Illinois Police Department’s Crime Alerts and will be issued to everyone with an Illinois email address.

The goal of the new system is to give the whole campus community the information, tools and resources needed to stay safe. The safety notices differ from Illini-Alerts in that the safety notices notify the communities about imminent threats to life, health or safety of the general campus population. Safety notices serve to provide information during crime-related emergencies, according to UIPD Captain Tony Brown.

“An Illini-Alert is considered an emergency notification where a Campus Safety Notice is considered a timely warning,” Brown said. “Illini-Alerts are issued for more than just crimes.”

Brown also said the department has revised some of the language for the Campus Safety Notices to prevent causing confusion or panic about a crime within the community.

“We want people to take these seriously but we also don’t want to create the impression that crime is somehow out of control,” he said. “We send these out because we want people to have information that’s going to help them protect themselves and make themselves safer.”

Campus Safety Notices may be issued for crimes such as murder, manslaughter, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and arson. The decision to issue a Campus Safety Notice is made on a case-by-case basis, depending on when and where the incident occurred, when it was reported, whether it presents a continuing risk to the campus community and the amount of information known by University police. The notices will be issued as quickly as possible based on when the crime was reported and how much information police receive from witnesses.

University police are also working with area law enforcement agencies to issue Community Safety Notices for off-campus crimes that still pose a threat to the student population.

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