Crime and Security Policies

TIMELY WARNING POLICY (click here for LUPD Timely Warnings website)

Pursuant to 34 CFR 668.46(e), Lincoln University prepares and issues "timely warnings" in the following circumstances:

In the event that a situation arises, either on or off campus, that, in the judgment of the Chief of the Lincoln University Police Department constitutes an ongoing or continuing threat, a campus-wide "timely warning" will be issued. The warning will be issued to the campus community in a manner that is timely and will aid in the prevention of similar crimes. Dissemination may be by the college e-mail system to students, faculty and staff, and by the use of flyers. Copies of timely warnings may also be posted on the LUPD website.  University Relations will be responsible for relaying all electronic based information.  Please note that all timely warnings issued by Lincoln University will withhold the names of victims as confidential. 

Depending on the particular circumstances of the crime, especially in all situations that could pose an immediate threat to the community and individuals, the Lincoln University Police Department may also post a notice in each residence hall, and at the front door of each campus building. Anyone with information warranting a timely warning should report the circumstances to the Lincoln University Police Department office, by phone at 573-681-5555, or in person at the dispatch center within the Police Department, located next to Dwight T. Reed Stadium at 1118 Chestnut Street.

The Lincoln University Police Department (LUPD) is the office on campus responsible for the publication and distribution of this report in accordance with the Act. The LUPD works closely with many other university departments, as well as other law enforcement agencies, to obtain the information needed to compile this report.  As noted by law, all universities receiving federal financial aid must report the statistical information on crimes that occur on campus and include them in an annual report.  The statistical information collected for this report will not contain any names or specific locations to maintain the confidentiality of a victim.

For instance, other campus offices such as Student Health Services, Residential Life, Student Affairs, Student Activities, University Relations , and Student Development/Civic Engagement, assist in providing information for this report. The Lincoln University Police Department posts the annual report on the web in pdf format for its dissemination and the university printing office assists with the mass production of this document.  Additionally, outside law enforcement agencies, such as the Jefferson City Police Department, provide information regarding crime statistics from the public areas adjoining the main campus.  Please be aware that Cole County Sheriff's Department's jurisdiction does not extend to the Lincoln University campus.

Furthermore, this report contains useful safety and crime prevention information, and the Lincoln University Police Department encourages commuter and residential students, faculty and staff to use this document as a guide for safe practices on and off campus.

To find the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report on our website click here

In order to fulfill the mission of providing a safe, secure and enjoyable environment to live, study and work, all members of the Lincoln University community, including visitors, students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to report any criminal activity or emergency they observe. Reporting can be accomplished in a number of ways depending upon the urgency of your need for assistance. 

For bona fide emergencies requiring POLICE, FIRE or EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES response, DIAL 911 from any campus phone. Calls from a campus phone do not require than any additional numbers be dialed for an outside line.  911 calls will connect to the Central Communications Dispatcher with the Jefferson City Police Department; however dispatchers at Lincoln University Police Department monitor and listen to each 911 call made from a campus phone.

EMERGENCY TELEPHONES are located through Lincoln University's Jefferson City Campus.  When the RECEIVER of an emergency telephone is picked up, the Lincoln University Police Department is contacted.

For non-emergency calls, The Lincoln University Police Department may be contacted at 573-681-5555 from an off campus telephone or at 5555 from a campus telephone.  Calls will be answered by a Lincoln University Police Department Dispatcher.

Crimes may be reported in person at the Police Department Office, located at 1118 Chestnut, on the main campus in Jefferson City, MO, or directly to any police officer on patrol of the campus.  The Lincoln University Police Department is open 24 hours per day, 7 days a week and 365 days per year.

CAMPUS SECURITY AUTHORITIES

Crimes may also be reported to a Campus Security Authority (CSA) - the Clery regulations found in 34 CFR 668.46 (a) defines a Campus Security Authority in the following manner:

1. A campus police department or a campus security department of an institution
2. Any individual or individuals who have responsibility for campus security but who do not constitute a campus police department or a campus security department under paragraph (1) of this definition, such as an individual who is responsible for monitoring entrance into institutional property
3. Any individual or organization specified in an institution's statement of campus security policy as an individual or organization to which students and employees should report criminal offenses
4. An official of an institution who has significant responsibility for student and campus activities, including, but not limited to, student housing, student discipline and campus judicial proceedings. If such an official is a pastoral or professional counselor as defined below, the official is not considered a campus security authority when acting as a pastoral or professional counselor.

It will be the role of the CSAs to be there for students as someone to whom they can report crimes, look to for guidance if they have been victims of a crime, or ask if they simply need advice as to whether or not they should report an incident. If an individual chooses not to report a crime to LUPD and chooses the local police, CSAs can assist an individual in contacting the appropriate authorities (Jefferson City Police Department or Cole County Sheriff's Office as appropriate).  Please note that on-campus crimes reported to these agencies will typically be referred to LUPD, since it is the local law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction for Lincoln University.  The CSAs will not be responsible for taking any actions in regards to suspected perpetrators of a crime, nor are they to make any judgments as to whether or not a crime took place; they are simply responsible for reporting crimes to the Lincoln University Police Department. 

The CSA's are also not responsible for convincing victims of a crime to contact the police if victims do not want the police contacted.   CSA's submit the information on crimes to the LUPD for inclusion in the crime statistics as required by law under the Clery Act for all institutions of higher education that receive federal financial aid. As previously stated above, the statistical information collected for this report will not contain any names or specific locations to maintain the confidentiality of a victim.

The following programs and offices have CSAs that are responsible for reporting: Student Activities, Residential Life, Student Development/Civic Engagement, Student Health Services, Athletics, Career and Academic Support Services, LU ROTC, Ft. Leonard Wood Campus Nursing Program, and the Dean of Students.  Crimes may also be reported anonymously by going to the following website and completing the anonymous report form. The completed form will be automatically emailed to the LUPD. Emails can also be sent to LUPD@LincolnU.edu. 

During normal business hours, Lincoln University (excluding certain housing facilities) will be open to students, parents, employees, contractors, guests and invitees. During non-business hours access to all Lincoln University facilities is by key, if issued, or by admittance via the Lincoln University Police Department or Residential Life staff. In the case of periods of extended closing, the university will admit only those with prior written approval to all facilities.

Residence halls are secured 24 hours a day. Over extended breaks, the doors of all halls will be secured around the clock.  Some facilities may have individual hours, which may vary at different times of the year. Examples are the Scruggs University Center's 24-hour study area, Page Library, Jason Gymnasium (during games or open gym nights), Founders and MLK Halls and other academic learning centers where night classes are held.  In these cases, the facilities will be secured according to schedules developed by the department responsible for the facility.

Lincoln University utilizes an extensive system of cameras for the purpose of safety, security and facilities maintenance.  Cameras are located in many areas throughout campus including parking facilities, public areas of housing units and primary pedestrian areas.  Cameras are typically purchased by university departments for the monitoring of their specific operations, or by University Police for high traffic, public areas.

All cameras included in this system are able to be viewed by LUPD.  Camera owners and police are also able to conduct random real time monitoring as needed, and recordings are used to gather information through reviews of historical images.   All cameras are randomly monitored but continually recording.

The Lincoln University Police Department is committed to protecting the safety and security of the entire campus community. Therefore, a campus security escort service, utilizing a combination of police officers or LUPD cadets is available to all students, faculty and staff members who feel uncomfortable walking during the hours of darkness.  Escorts during daylight hours may be provided when documented safety concerns exist.  If you wish to request the escort service, please call (573) 681-5555 (for more information on security escort service click here). 

Emergencies may necessitate changes or alterations to any posted schedules. Security surveys are conducted in areas identified as problematic. Administrators including the Dean of Students, Chief of Staff, as well as various department heads including the Police Department Director, the Director of Buildings and Grounds, the Director of Student Housing and the Director of Auxiliary Services and other concerned areas, review these results. These surveys examine security issues such as landscaping, locks, alarms, lighting and communications.

The Lincoln University Police Department is a fully functioning law enforcement agency appointed by the Board of Curators. Once hired, an officer is sworn in by a member of the Board of Curators. They then are commissioned, armed law enforcement officers clothed with full police powers as authorized in sections 175.040, 172.350 and as outlined in section 172.355 of the Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri.

• All commissioned LUPD officers possess the same powers on the Lincoln University campus as city police officers within their particular city.
  

"in addition to the powers prescribed in subsections 1 and 5 of this section, section 544.216, RSMo. ,and any other arrest powers, a law enforcement officer or federal law enforcement officer as defined in subsection 8 of this section, may arrest on view, and without a warrant, at any place within this state, any person the officer sees asserting physical force or using forcible compulsion for the purpose of causing or creating a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury to any person or any person the officer sees committing a dangerous felony as defined in section 556.061, RSMo. Any such action shall be deemed to be within the scope of the officer's employment".

Thus, in every respect, commissioned law enforcement officers employed by Lincoln have enforcement authority. Furthermore, by virtue of state law, LUPD personnel may apprehend violators anywhere within the State of Missouri for any offense regardless if committed in their presence, or not as long as the incident originated on the campus and that officer is attempting to apprehend, while in continuous pursuit, a violator who flees that officer from the campus.   Please note that on-campus crimes reported to other local law enforcement agencies will typically be referred to LUPD, since it is the local law enforcement agency that has the jurisdiction for Lincoln University.

• In addition the LUPD is staffed with student cadets and civilian staff who function as security officers possessing no police powers.
• These personnel may respond to non-criminal incidents such as non-injury motor vehicle accidents, parking violations and other similar incidents.
  
  
• The commissioned law enforcement officers may be distinguished from the non-commissioned security personnel by the color of their uniforms.

Commissioned personnel with police powers are uniformed in a dark navy blue shirt and pants and possess a sidearm, while personnel functioning as security personnel with no police powers are uniformed in a light blue shirt and navy blue pants.

In addition, at times due to limited manpower, the campus law enforcement may be augmented by officers of the Jefferson City Police Department and, in some cases, by deputies with the Cole County Sheriff's Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. While there are no official memorandums of understanding or other agreements in place, the aforementioned agencies each possess powers of arrest on the Lincoln University campus. All crimes, both felony and misdemeanor, that occur on Lincoln University property are investigated by officers of the Lincoln University Police Department.  Assistance, as needed and requested, in the investigation of crimes on the campus is available through the aforementioned agencies.  It is the policy of the university that all persons (faculty, staff, students and visitors) be encouraged to promptly report all incidents of crime to Police Department officials.

As a result of the negotiated rulemaking process that was followed by the passage of the law, the 1998 amendments to the "Clery Act" clarified the identity of those considered to be campus security authorities. Campus "pastoral counselors" and "professional counselors," when acting as such, are not considered to be a campus security authority and are not required to report crimes for inclusion into the annual disclosure of crime statistics.

Pastoral counselors and professional counselors are encouraged, if and when they deem it appropriate, to inform the persons they are counseling of any procedures to report crimes on a voluntary, confidential basis for inclusion in the annual disclosure for crime statistics.  For the purposes of the "Clery Act", pastoral counselors are defined "as an employee of an institution who is associated with a religious order or denomination, recognized by that religious order or denomination as someone who provides confidential counseling and who is functioning with the scope of that recognition as a pastoral counselor."

Professional counselors are defined as "an employee of an institution whose official responsibilities include providing psychological counseling to members of the institution's community and who is functioning within the scope of his or her license or certification."

In an effort to ensure a safe and secure environment in which to live, work and study, the Lincoln

University Police Department is committed to informing the members of the Lincoln University community about the functions and various safety and security programs of the department. The Lincoln University Police Department conducts presentations at each session of New Student Orientation. These sessions cover the purpose of the department, its organizational structure and authority, the types of crimes on campus, how to avoid becoming a victim of crime, active shooter training, and what to do if you are a victim.  Statistics are provided from the annual security report. In addition to addressing issues with students, sessions are also conducted with parents of the incoming students.

Residence Hall meetings: The Lincoln University Police Department also participates in conducting residence hall meetings to inform students about campus rules and regulations, the student conduct system, parking enforcement and other safety issues.  A variety of security tips and other links of interest are also posted on the department website.

Furthermore, a representative of the Lincoln University Police Department meets with new students during their week of orientation that is mandated by university admissions personnel for all incoming freshman and transfer students. At this meeting, the Police Department representative presents an overview of the various security policies of the campus, and discusses the options available to students for reporting crimes. Representatives also provide helpful information designed to prevent students from becoming victims of crimes and from engaging in prohibited conduct.

Police Officers are also available to members of the Lincoln University community to provide physical security surveys of the various buildings on campus when requested. LUPD officers will provide recommendations to make the particular facility, and/or office, less vulnerable to theft or other crime. 

In addition to the above noted items, the Lincoln University Police Department regularly posts anti-crime flyers throughout the campus buildings including residence halls, academic halls and administrative halls.  The flyers in general discourage certain unlawful behavior, such as driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol and underage drinking, while encouraging certain behaviors designed to reduce victimization such as: securing valuables. In addition, the department regularly posts flyers which include information on how and where to report a crime throughout campus. 

Neither any national fraternity or sorority nor Lincoln University recognizes any off-campus Greek houses at Lincoln University.  There are no official fraternity or sorority off-campus functions which are sanctioned by university officials.