The University of Colorado Boulder expanded the area in which it sends emergency alerts to include off-campus neighborhoods that are heavily populated with students.
The expanded alert area includes the University Hill neighborhood, the Goss Grove neighborhood near Folsom Street and Canyon Boulevard, the Lower Chautauqua neighborhood and the residential area north of Williams Village called Baseline Sub, according to a news release.
The expansion started as a pilot program in October and is in response to feedback expressing the need for more information on incidents that occur in popular areas near campus.
“We heard our stakeholders’ desire for more information on life and safety issues not just on campus but also nearby, which led to the pilot expansion,” CU Boulder Chief of Police Doreen Jokerst said in the news release. “We’ve received positive feedback from students, their parents and employees of the university, leading to our decision to continue the program, while assessing its effectiveness.”
The expansion means the university will send out additional alerts that are not required by the The Clery Act, which requires CU Boulder to release information about campus crime activity.
Emergency alerts will now be sent when a “life-threatening incident occurs” on campus or off campus in the listed neighborhoods and CU Boulder police can confirm details with the Boulder Police Department.
The decision on whether to send alerts within the expanded boundaries will depend on the severity of the incident, the location, the distance from campus and student population density.
CU Boulder has three levels of alerts. CU Emergency Alerts are sent when there’s an immediate threat, CU Safety alerts are sent for certain crimes committed on or near campus, and CU Advisories are sent for non-threatening incidents like power outages.
CU Boulder alerts are available for anyone to follow or view at twitter.com/cuboulderalerts
