Policy Text
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
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6.3 Crime Prevention: Crime Analysis
6.3.5 Timely Warnings (Revised: 10/8/25 )
The UCSF Police Department provides timely and relevant information about campus crimes to
students, faculty and employees. Such reports shall be provided to the UCSF community in a
manner that is timely and may aid in the prevention of similar occurrences. It shall be the policy
of the UCSF Police Department to comply with the cited federal law (Clery Act) and maintain
documents pertaining to the d isclosure of UCSF information and the availability of related
reports. This order establishes and describes procedures to be used when preparing a “Crime
Alert” bulletin.
A. The Higher Education Act 20 United States Code § 1092 (f)(3) states:
Each instit ution participating in any program under this subchapter and part C of
subchapter and title 42 United States Code section 34(I)(C) shall make timely
reports [via Crime Alerts] to the campus community on crimes considered to be a
serious or continuing threa t to the students and employees described in paragraph
(1)(F) that are reported to the campus security or local law police agencies. Such
reports shall be provided to students and employees in a manner that is timely and
that may aid in the prevention of s imilar occurrences.
B. The UCSF Police Department publishes timely warnings (e.g., Crime Alerts) on all
reported Clery Act crimes considered to pose a serious or continuing threat to the UCSF
community which occurs on Clery Act geography. These timely warnings/Crime Alerts
are d isseminated through the Listservs system and UCSF Police Department website.
They may also be distributed via campus -wide electronic bulletins and UCSF News
Center, depending on the nature of the crime. All such alerts can be reviewed at the
UCSF Police De partment and accessed on the UCSF Police Department website, at
www.police.ucsf.edu , under the “Crime Alerts” link. Examples of crimes that would
trigger a timely warning/crime alert include, but are not limited t o:
1. Murder/non -negligent manslaughter
2. Sex offenses, forcible or non -forcible sexual assault
3. Robbery
4. Aggravated assault
5. Major incidents of arson.
If there is a pattern of crime in the categories of burglary or motor vehicle theft, a crime
alert would typically be distributed. All reported Clery Act crimes, which, in addition to
the crimes mentioned above, include the VAWA offenses (dating violence, domestic
violence, and stalking), Clery Act enumerated hate crimes and drug, liquor and weapon
law violations resulting in an arrest or referral, will be evaluated on a case -by-case basis.
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
2
This policy applies to the UCSF Clery Act geography, which includes locations owned,
leased, occupied or controlled by UCSF and adjacent public property at on -campus
locations (e.g., Parnassus, Mission Bay, Mt. Zion, Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland,
UCSF Fresno).
UCSF Police Department may also evaluate non -Clery Act crimes and Clery Act crimes
occurring outside of the UCSF Clery Act geography for issuance of similar type safety
bulletins or other campus notifications, on a case -by-case basis.
C. When a member of the UCSF Police Department becomes aware that a Clery Act crime
has been reported to have occurred at a UCSF -owned or -controlled location (i.e., Clery
Act geography), and there is cause to believe the crime represents a serious or continu ing
threat to UCSF students and/or employees, the member shall notify the Watch
Commander or Sergeant of the incident. The Watch Commander or Sergeant shall advise
the FSD Captain or command officer of the incident to obtain approval to prepare and
distrib ute a Crime Alert bulletin.
The Watch Commander or Sergeant will complete the UCSF PD Timely Warning
“Crime Alert” Determination Form and review the circumstances of the incident and the
information of the form with FSD Captain or on -call command office r and request their
approval for the timely warning/Crime Alert notification. If the decision is to not issue a
timely warning/Crime Alert, the reason in support of the decision must be articulated on
the form by the completing Watch Commander or Sergeant and approved by the FSD
Captain or on call commander.
The Timely Warning “Crime Alert” Determination Form shall be completed for all
reported Clery Act crimes occuring on UCSF Clery Act geography, even if a timely
warning/Crime Alert is not issued.
Once the Timely Warning “Crime Alert” Determination Form is signed, the original will
be uploaded to the RIMS records management database along with the associated case
file, for Clery reporting and auditing purposes. Alternatively, the reason for issuing or not
issuing the Crime Alert will be entered in the “Notes” field in RIMS.
D. The Investigations Unit shall be responsible for reading and analyzing all completed
police and incident reports. Upon determining a Clery Act crime presents a serious or
continuing threat to the security or individual safety of UCSF students and employees,
the Investigations Unit shall notify the FSD Captain or command officer of the incident
and seek approval to prepare and distribute a timely warning/Crime Alert. Upon
appro val, the Crime Analyst shall be contacted to generate a Crime Alert.
E. The Crime Analyst is backed up by the Investigations Unit, FSD Captain or