Penn Safety

A safe campus in the city 

Penn is a safe university in a beautiful city. The Division of Public Safety is proud to serve the Penn community with the highest standards of safety and security. A student walking home after a late night at the library can call a walking escort at any time  or call for a Penn-provided transit service to pick them up in any part of the city.

The University takes great pride in being a safe environment for students. Theft has consistently remained the number one "crime" reported on campus, largely a result of unsecured bicycles or bookbags. Still, there are many resources in place to help students in the event of such an incidence, such as registering valuable items with the Penn Police.  

While there has never been a major on-campus emergency, the Penn community understands the importance of quick alerts and has implemented a system to immediately notify students and faculty (and parents and family members) of any emergency through text messages, emails, and phone calls.    

The many services to ensure the safety of your son or daughter include:

• Walking Escorts: Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
• Blue Light e-phones: If a student observes a potential safety hazard, requires assistance, feels unsafe, or needs a walking escort, they can simply pick up the receiver to any of the 500 emergency phones and be instantly connected to the emergency operations center dispatcher, who will dispatch a security officer regardless of whether the caller speaks into the receiver
• Penn Transit Ride Services: Provides mobile escort services for all members of the Penn community, from 6pm-3am daily (and on-call for emergencies, 3am-7am) 
• Property Registration: Students can register bicycles, laptops, cell phones, MP3 players, and other valuables with DPS to reduce the risk of theft and increase the chances of recovering stolen property
• UPenn Alert System: In an emergency situation, the UPenn Alert system can reach students and faculty through text messages, emails, and phone calls   

• Closed Circuit Television Cameras: The 100+ pan-tilt-zoom CCTV cameras on campus are proactively used by dispatchers to deter crime through virtual 24/7 CCTV monitoring and patrols