The following is a listing of personal safety and security awareness programs and projects employed by the UAB Police & Public Safety Department to increase faculty, staff, and student awareness of crime prevention, personal safety, and security awareness on the UAB campus:
Escort Program
If you are on campus call UAB Police & Public Safety at 934-4434, or you may use a HELP Phone to request an escort. A UAB escort will meet you at any on-campus location (including parking facilities) and accompany you to your on-campus destination either on foot or in a marked vehicle.The Police & Public Safety Department and the Department of Parking and Transportation Services assist students, faculty, and staff members whose cars will not start, mechanical or battery, out of gas, or other reasons, and who have locked themselves out of the vehicle. The Department of Parking and Transportation Services is the primary provider of these services and provides comprehensive assistance with professionals. They are on call at (205) 975-6277 (MARS-Motorist Assistance Road Service) 6:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m.
New Student Orientation
Crime prevention material, brochures, pamphlets distributed, and presentations are made by members of the department at all new student orientations.
Resident Hall Security
Crime prevention presentations and personal awareness programs, inclusive of pamphlets and brochures are presented to all residents at the start of each quarter. Members of the Student Housing Precinct usually conduct the presentations to assure openness among the students and staff.
Victim Assistance Program
Selected officers of both genders are regularly trained and certified in the department to assure each victim of a crime or catastrophic event is properly advised and counseled regarding the past event and the chain of events to follow in the Criminal Justice System. These officers assure the victim is not intimidated by the suspect, is aware of all the assistance available, and is assisted in every way possible to continue with an accustomed life style on campus and at their homes.
Emergency Telephones
Blue light emergency phones are strategically located on the campus to assure students, faculty, and staff have access to an emergency phone for any emergency that occurs. One button service to an instant response by the dispatcher to the location they are calling from is advantageous to everyone. These phones are maintained by cooperative effort of the UAB Police & Public Safety Department and UAB Telecommunications Services.
Crime Prevention Presentations
A full time non-sworn member of the department is dedicated to assuring an in-depth state-of-the-art crime prevention program for the campus. New students, faculty, and staff are oriented upon their arrival on campus and are routinely presented with current pamphlets and brochures during presentations over a period of one year. The programs are also extended to citizens and children outside the UAB community in order to assure the full effect of the program is offered to all.
The Crime Prevention Specialist offers property identification, bicycle registration, Rape Aggression Defense Courses, and seminars and presentations for specialized crimes such as flim-flam, sexual assault, date rape, burglary, robbery, and theft from the person. Brochures and contemporary pamphlets are made available at all presentations and in the lobby of the UAB Police & Public Safety building.
Architectural Design and Security Surveys
The department is invited and commits itself to being on the ground floor for the planning of all new buildings and other structures to assure occupant safety and security is paramount. The department has specialists who perform extensive security surveys in the UAB community whenever the need arises in regards to safety and security in all buildings.
Property Identification
The UAB Police & Public Safety Department provides engraving tools for faculty, staff, and students on a check-out basis. Using the tool, valuable personal property may be identified if stolen or lost. Bicycles, motorcycles, motor vehicles, computers, and audio-visual equipment are examples of such equipment. In addition, community members are encouraged to record serial numbers and model numbers of such equipment and maintain the record in an offsite location. On campus residents are particularly encouraged to participate in the process.
Crime Prevention Publicity
A routine number of articles about the department's crime prevention efforts are regularly published in two campus newspapers and often in the Birmingham News and local news media.
Rape Awareness, Education, and Prevention
The department has trained and certified men and women whose primary purpose is to educate the students, faculty, and staff about the subject at new student/employee orientations and other programs throughout the year in a pro-active manner to assure the crime is minimized or not existent. The nationally known RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) program is conducted by UAB Police certified instructors as often as the schedule permits.
Campus Watch
A unique program patterned off of the municipal "Block Watch" concept. Currently the program is more successful than ever before all over campus. It was initiated on the campus in 1992.
Community Policing
With the introduction of the concept in the middle 1990s, the UAB Police & Public Safety Department has capitalized on the subject by assuring the department's program is a "flag ship" for other universities. The men and women of the department make every effort to assure the concept continues to excel.
UAB Police Website
The UAB Police & Public Safety Department has developed a web site at www.uab.edu/police. Please browse the site and become more familiar with the department. For any questions, call Erica Wright at (205) 996-0871.
This information is provided in accordance with the provisions of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act of 1998.
UAB employees and students can now request transportation from UAB Safety Escort and Blaze Ride using TapRide by DoubleMap, available for download on iOS and Android devices.
Both transportation options offer on-demand van service within the UAB footprint. The Safety Escort provides Blazers daily late-night service 9 p.m.-5:30 a.m. and Blaze Ride is available weekdays 7:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. for employees and students with limited mobility. To use Blaze Ride, employees must register with AWARE; students must register with Disability Support Services. ONE Cards are required to ride.
Follow these steps to request a ride using TapRide:
- Download the app from the App Store or Google Play.
- Select “University of Alabama at Birmingham” from the list of systems.
- When prompted, select “Rider Login” from the login system options and input your BlazerID and password.
- Select “Allow” for using location services, which are required to utilize the app.
- Select “Allow” for notifications to stay updated on your driver’s arrival time.
UAB Transportation encourages the use of TapRide to request services from Safety Escort and Blaze Ride; however, Safety Escort also can be requested by calling 205-934-8772. Blaze Ride participants can call 205-975-3514.
The Blazer Express Safety Escort is an on-demand van service for UAB students, employees, and authorized visitors, available through Parking and Transportation Services by calling 205-934-8772. The service is available daily from 9:00 pm – 5:30 am. UAB students and employees must present their UAB ID badge to be transported. Visitors will be allowed to use the service when accompanied by a card-carrying student or employee. The Safety Escort coverage area extends to these borders:
- Railroad Park to the north
- Eighth Street to the west
- 22nd Street to the east
- 14th Avenue to the south
If the Blazer Express Safety Escort is not available, call UAB Police at 934-4434, or you may use a HELP Phone to request an escort for your personal safety. A UAB escort will meet you at any on-campus location (including parking facilities) and accompany you to your on-campus destination either on foot or in a marked vehicle.
There are over 490+ Help Phones conveniently located throughout the UAB Campus. These phones are in building hallways, elevators, parking lots, parking decks, between buildings and in various remote areas. They are a direct link to the UAB Police & Public Safety Department and are monitored 24 hours a day.
To operate a Help Phone that is located in a metal box, just open the door and pick up on the handset. To operate the small yellow Help Phone boxes with the red button, just push the button once and wait for the dispatcher to answer. To operate the Help Phones located in elevators, just open the phone panel and lift the handset up and wait for the dispatcher to answer.
When using a Help Phone, please wait for someone to answer. This usually takes just seconds, but in rare cases may take up to a half a minute for the dispatcher to get to the line. We send Police Officers to unanswered activated phones, so if you need assistance, or just change your mind, please wait for the dispatcher to confirm that you are ok.
The Help Phone map is available in PDF format. Download the free version of Adobe Reader to view this document.