Mission
The mission of the Department of Campus Safety is to enhance the quality of life for the entire College community and the immediate surrounding area by maintaining a secure environment, where the safety of all is balanced with the rights of the individual. Sarah Lawrence Campus Safety staff adhere to a campus community public safety philosophy, where our Campus Safety officers are expected to have positive interactions with our community daily and to enhance the quality of life of the entire College community and its immediate surrounding area by maintaining a safe environment in an all-hazards approach to responding to security, fire, medical, and service calls. The department strives to accomplish its mission while adhering to its core values of service, courtesy, and respect. The success of this mission depends upon an effective working relationship between Campus Safety officers and the diverse population of the Sarah Lawrence College community, including students, staff, faculty, visitors, and the surrounding community. Critical to this relationship is mutual respect. Therefore, we pledge to respect the diverse needs and interests of the community we serve while being vigilant in the protection of both persons and property. In return, we ask that our partners in the community assume their individual and collective responsibilities to make Sarah Lawrence College a safe campus with the goal of providing a safe haven that fosters an oasis for learning.
Emergency & Non-Emergency Contact Numbers
Campus Safety is located in Swinford Annex and is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The emergency number is 914.395.2222; the non-emergency number is 914.395.2209 for questions, information, and nonemergency requests. Campus Safety not only acts as the operator for emergency and non-emergency calls, but also as a dispatcher via radio to Campus Safety officers in the field, while monitoring campus-wide alarms, emergency phones, and surveillance cameras.
Campus Safety Officers
Our Campus Safety officers are New York State Licensed Security Officers who are trained, certified, and registered with NYS, which entails maintaining compliance with the New York State Security Guard Act of 1992. The officers receive additional training by the College in various areas, including report writing, CPR, first aid, use of AEDs, Title IX, fire safety, nonviolent crisis intervention, active threat awareness, campus community policing philosophy, diversity, and ethics. Campus Safety officers enforce the laws and regulations of the federal government, New York State, the City of Yonkers, and Sarah Lawrence College. Campus Safety officers do not have arrest powers above that of a private citizen. They do have the authority to ask persons on campus property for identification and to determine whether individuals have lawful business at Sarah Lawrence College.
Campus Safety officers have the authority to issue parking tickets on campus. Parking tickets issued to students are billed to their College financial accounts. The College works closely with state and local police agencies/authorities, where appropriate. Campus Safety officers patrol the campus on foot and in vehicles 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to their regular patrols, officers respond immediately to emergencies, escort students when the Campus Shuttle is not running, open and close various facilities, patrol parking areas, issue parking tickets, control and respond to all burglar and fire alarms, respond when students, faculty, or staff are locked out of dorms or offices, and document all incidents.
Security Procedures and Updates
Campus Safety utilizes various methods, including the College website, to advise students about security procedures and updates. Campus Safety alerts and advisories are sent in the form of e-mails to all students via their Sarah Lawrence accounts. Text messages are also sent out in emergency situations via RAVE emergency notification system. In addition, at the beginning of each academic year, the director of campus safety or his designee gives a safety orientation to all incoming first-year and transfer students.
The Clery Act
The Clery Act requires colleges and universities to publish a yearly security and fire safety report. This report includes statistics for the previous three calendar years concerning reported crimes that have occurred on campus; in certain off-campus buildings or property owned or controlled by Sarah Lawrence College; and on public property within, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from, the campus. The report includes institutional policies regarding campus security, such as policies about sexual assault, emergency procedures, missing students, and other matters. Fire statistics and a description of the fire safety system for each on-campus student housing facility can also be found in the report. The report can be accessed on our College website at sarahlawrence.edu/security. The College’s crime and fire statistics can also be found at the US Department of Education’s website at https://ope.ed.gov/campussafety.