Divisions

In order to ensure appropriate command and control, University of Kentucky Police Department operates in Sections. Sections are made up of related groups that work together to assist the department in meeting specific goals or objectives. This allows the department to appropriately focus resources on core strategic goals efficiently and effectively.

University of Kentucky Police Department is broken up into the following groups:

Administration

Administration consists of Fiscal Affairs, Human Resources, and Marketing and Promotion, and the Wildcard Offices. This division is responsible for assisting with the annual budget preparation, monitoring department budget authority, and maintaining all records necessary to insure the department operates with Federal, State, Local and University policies and procedures.

Fiscal affairs works in concert with human resources to handle purchasing, payroll and billable services.

The Human Resource Liaison coordinates all matters related to recruitment, and hiring, and manages department human resource files.

The Marketing and Promotion Specialist assists with recruitment efforts and manages the department social media and marketing presence within the community.

The Wildcard identification offices ensures all students, employees, vendors and others with codified relationships with the University have the appropriate credentialing to conduct business on campus. More about the Wildcard offices can be found here.

Police Operations

The Police Operations section provides police services to the citizens of the University of Kentucky community on a 24-hour a day basis with the purpose of protecting life and property. Police Operations is essentially separated into two major divisions; the Patrol division and Flex Team.

The Patrol division is staffed by highly trained law enforcement officers who have attended and graduated the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training Academy (KYDOCJT) or its equivalent, and who have also met all of Kentucky's Peace Officer Professional Standards as established by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council. In addition to the required 928 hours of basic police academy training, each sworn police officer completes a minimum of 40 hours of annual, mandatory, in-service training at KYDOCJT. Additional in-house, specialized, and/or out-of-the-state training is regularly attended by police officers. The Patrol division is comprised of three patrol shifts, and is on-duty 24 hours per day, 365 days out of each calendar year. The Patrol division utilizes various means of patrol methods while completing their daily responsibilities on the University of Kentucky's property and roads. These methods include, automobiles, bicycles, motorcycles, golf carts, and foot patrols.

The Flex Team is tasked with the responsibility of conducting investigations into criminal activity that occurs on the University of Kentucky campus and/or properties. Flex Team investigators are trained in a variety of specialty areas that include sex crimes, computer crimes, financial crimes, robbery, burglary, death investigations, and crime scene investigations. The Flex Team is also a critical element in regards to the hiring and on boarding process of new police personnel. Flex Team investigators conduct detailed and extensive background investigations on candidates that have applied for the position of police officer, and many other civilian career opportunities within our department.

Crisis Management & Preparedness

The Division of Crisis Management & Preparedness is responsible for fostering positive relationships with the University Community and providing collaboration in the area of emergency management. Its primary functions include plan development, managing UK’s emergency notification system, UK Alert, response and recovery coordination, managing the Emergency Operations Center when activated in response to an emergency situation, training and exercise development, campus security and crime statistics reporting, and 911 addressing.

The Crisis Management & Preparedness Captain oversees three support sections:

The Emergency Management Specialist is responsible for ensuring the appropriate training in emergency preparedness is conducted and tracked throughout the University to include National Incident Management Systems (NIMS), Incident Command Systems (ICS) and Emergency Response. The Emergency Management Specialist also coordinates the completion and tracking of Building Emergency Action Plans (BEAPS) and emergency management exercises to include table tops, drills, functional exercises, and full scale exercises for the University.

The Business Continuity Coordinator (BCC) is responsible for defining and developing a business continuity strategy for the University by researching best practices and creating templates and tools to assist in the completion of business continuity plans (BCP) within the University. The BCC works with key University officials to create business continuity teams and assisting departments in completing BCPs. The BCC also assists in managing limited grant programs within CMP and the Police Department.

The Records Compliance Coordinator is responsible for University compliance of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (“Clery Act”) and the Kentucky Campus Safety and Security Act (Michael “Minger Act”). This position adheres to the Clery & Minger Acts in ensuring the Crime Log and Fire Log remains current as required, yearly statistics are compiled for creating the Annual Safety and Security Report, and Campus Security Authority (CSA) training is available and tracked for the University.

Support Services

The Support Services division is responsible for Police Communications, Records, Property and Evidence, Community Affairs, and Building and Fleet Services.

Police Communications consists of certified Police Communications officers who manage all emergency and non-emergency calls for service. Police Communications officers have the responsibility of communicating with police and security officers respond to calls for service in a safe and expeditious manner. They relay information to and from officers in the field regarding emergency situations, traffic stops, collisions, and other police related interactions. Police Communications provides these services 24/7, 365 days a year.

The Records section is responsible for maintaining copies of all violations, collisions, and criminal reports and ensuring the reports are properly provided to Kentucky State Police, other Federal, State, local justice officials, and others who require copies of reports.

The Property and Evidence section is responsible for ensuring all property retained by the UK Police Department is done so properly and in a safe and secure manner. This includes all found property, personal property, and physical evidence obtained through various police and security interactions.

The Community Services unit provides a host of crime prevention and response training as well as educational programs designed to inform the community about University police operations. The Community Services section also provides facility site assessments utilizing Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design best practices.

HealthCare Operations

The University of Kentucky Police Department is dedicated to providing the safest environment possible for patients, families, visitors, faculty, and staff. Services offered by our unit include securing offices, monitoring closed circuit television and other security devices, providing safe escorts, and assisting with the direction of visitors and patients throughout the UK HealthCare Hospital enterprise.

Technical Division

The Technical division is responsible for managing all component of the UK Central Security System. This includes assisting facility authorities in access control operations to provide appropriate access privileges to University stakeholders. They also assist officials with management of electronic schedules on facilities attached to the UK Central Security System for daily operations and special events. The Tech Division also manages security video management on campus.