Public Safety Framework

Uniting our institution to prevent and prepare for active threats and critical incidents.

Prevent, Prepare, Respond

OBJECTIVES

Safeguard our people and places
Safety on our campus requires not only compliance with current building and fire codes, but integrating a deeper level of safety and security – starting with architectural design and carrying into the building’s operations. Safety and security design standards can help deter those who pose a safety risk to our campus and facilitate faster and more effective responses for emergency personnel during an active threat, while still maintaining the welcoming aesthetics and functional elements that define our student/patient experience. Once operational, consistent security services ensure that security protocols, training, and responses are consistent from building to building within the University’s portfolio.
PRIORITY ACTION AREAS:
- Centralized Security Services
- Building Access Control & Surveillance
- Design Requirements & Construction Standards
Reduce the likelihood of harm
The Framework prioritizes the need for early identification of potential risks to our campus and clear pathways for mitigation. A multi‐hazards approach requires assessment of threats and security vulnerabilities. Simply put, a threat poses a potential danger, while a vulnerability is a weakness that can be exploited. When these two factors overlap, the risk to our community and institution is heightened. Threats and vulnerabilities may arise in any setting and may be:
- physical (i.e. weaknesses in a building’s security protocols or construction);
- behavioral (i.e. threats of violence toward others or the institution);
- or environmental (i.e. extreme weather events that impact academic, healthcare, and research operations).
The Framework strengthens our capacity to holistically identify, mitigate, and respond to public safety risks by strengthening threat and security vulnerability assessment across the university and a pathway to prioritize mitigation.
PRIORITY ACTION AREAS:
- Event Security Risk Assessment
- Building Security Vulnerability Assessments
- Behavioral Threat Assessment & Management
- Risk Mitigation Priorities
Empower with skills and resources
By design, institutions of higher education experience recurring turnover in their student populations. This frequency places a greater responsibility on staff and faculty to reinforce campus and emergency safety protocols and to provide additional support when emergency situations occur. Prevention and preparedness training for our employees also helps us achieve our goal of a violence‐free workplace. While the University cannot eliminate all threats and hazards that may impact our campus, we can equip our employees and students with the training and confidence to respond effectively, protect themselves, and support others during these critical situations.
PRIORITY ACTION AREAS:
- “Prevent, Prepare, Respond” Training
- Department/Unit‐Level Safety Liaisons
- Public Awareness Campaigns
- “Stop The Bleed" Kits & Training
- Exercises & Drills
Act swiftly to reduce harm
An all‐hazards approach to safety preparedness relies on clear and simple language to inform individuals on how to respond in a disaster, also known as emergency response protocols. Coordinated emergency operations plans and critical incident management teams across our academic and hospitals/clinics systems helps ensure that our campus is prepared to respond swiftly. This includes continuing our alignment with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) so that our responses can be effectively coordinated with federal, state, and local public safety agencies.
PRIORITY ACTION AREAS:
- Standard Response Protocol (SRP)
- Emergency Mass Notification Systems (Campus Alerts)
- Coordinated Emergency Operations & Response Plans
- Critical Incident Response Training
- Law Enforcement Active Aggressor Response Training
Restore and Support

In the aftermath of a mass casualty event or natural disaster, the university must re‐establish safety, restore critical services, and help mitigate the physical, emotional, and psychological impacts to our students, faculty, staff, and customers. Our goal is to restore operations as soon as possible, while simultaneously providing the time, space, and resources for healing, recovery, and rebuilding of our community and our campus.

PRIORITY ACTION AREAS:
- Public Communications
- Friends & Relatives Center (FRC) / Family Assistance Center (FAC)
- Community Lifelines

The University of Utah’s commitment to the safety of our students, employees, patients, and visitors is paramount. It’s the foundation to student success and the well-being of our campus community. This commitment goes far beyond compliance with legal mandates. It requires an unwavering focus on prevention, preparedness, and response in the face of disasters and emergencies that have the potential to disrupt our academics, research, healthcare operations, and surrounding community.

As we embark on a new phase of planning through Impact 2030 and the Campus Physical Development Framework, we’ve created an exciting vision for connection, innovation, and service. With this vision comes greater responsibility and new challenges for ensuring campus safety. The Public Safety Framework provides a pathway to minimize current and future safety risks.
As a public and multi‐sector institution (academic, research, and healthcare), the University of Utah faces different safety and security challenges than K‐12 schools and corporate enterprises. The Public Safety Framework provides an approach for higher education that complements school safety efforts in Utah and across the nation, while acknowledging that campus geography, dynamic workplace settings, and large‐scale special events introduce additional vulnerabilities that are not encountered in public school settings. Some of these challenges include:
- A dynamic and publicly accessible campus, welcoming over 82,000 students and employees, as well as 50,000+ guests for our largest special events
- Hospitals and clinics support more than 4 million patient visits per year
- Over 350 buildings and venues, with satellite offices and healthcare clinics throughout the Wasatch Front
- State-of-the-art research and healthcare facilities with unique physical security needs
- Near-term horizon for new construction and renovation through the Campus Physical Development Framework and 2034 Olympic Games
- Students, faculty, staff, patients and guests simultaneously occupying the same building, or whose work spans multiple buildings (i.e. healthcare, academic, research)
- Emergency incidents and responses impacted by adjacent communities and non-university owned properties
- National trends indicating an increased risk for targeted and mass violence within educational, workplace, and public gathering spaces
- Increased risk of extreme weather events and natural disasters
The Public Safety Framework is designed to be a living document that will inform both current and future campus safety measures. The guiding pillars of Protection, Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovery are not perfect end‐states, rather a process of continuous improvement. As our institution strives to achieve best practices, the fields of public safety, security, and emergency management will continually evolve as higher education and our society navigate new campus safety considerations, threats, and unexpected disasters.

The Public Safety Framework outlines 20 action areas which will be implemented in phases. These action areas will be reviewed and updated regularly, to prioritize emerging needs, align with university resources, factor in emerging threats, and to integrate new technologies. Priority action items will be designated for implementation by the Presidential and Vice‐Presidential Leadership.
The Public Safety Framework is grounded in best practice in public safety, combined with physical security and design standards, violence prevention strategies, and ongoing risk assessment. By combining these unique disciplines and applying them across the institution, we can achieve a new level of safety and security that supports the growth and evolution of the University of Utah, as well as provide a replicable model for others.

The University of Utah's Chief Safety Officer and members of the Department of Public Safety serve as the Co-Chair and appointed members of the Utah System of Higher Education's Campus Safety Taskforce. The best practices, recommendations, and lessons learned from the Public Safety Framework will be shared with USHE for consideration and broader replication via the Campus Safety Taskforce.
The Public Safety Framework takes a multi-hazard approach to disaster preparedness, both human-caused and natural. It's principles can guide planning for critical incidents that impact public safety, such as active attacks, fires, explosions, civil disturbances, and earthquakes. While the Public Safety Framework does not directly address cybersecurity risks, IT leadership will be engaged for threat assessment and standards/policies that may have public safety implications.

Public Safety Framework

Framework Pillars

Safeguard our people and places

Reduce the likelihood of harm

Empower with skills and resources

Act swiftly to reduce harm

Restore and Support