University Police Department (UPD) officers are patrolling dorms more frequently this semester in an effort to enhance security in on-campus housing.
According to UPD Chief Matthew Carmichael, officers conducted 595 patrol checks across all 26 dorms in January, a significant increase from 215 in January 2024. Since the beginning of the semester, at least one officer has been stationed at each dorm “all the time,” something Carmichael hopes to continue going forward.
Carmichael said UPD leadership decided to increase patrols following a December meeting, where they identified the Department of Housing and Residential Life (DHRL) as a priority for the spring semester.
“We thought ‘What is one of the best ways we can improve our service to our students who live here?’ We came up with increased patrols and doing some crime prevention interaction and training, starting with the [resident assistants] RAs, ” Carmichael said.
Record enrollment was another factor behind the increased patrols, which brought more than 9,000 freshmen who live on campus, according to Carmichael.
According to Carmichael, officers patrol common areas and lobbies of residential halls every day. While hallways and dorm rooms are not part of their regular patrols, students may encounter officers in these areas if they are responding to a call.
UPD is also enforcing a “no ID, no entry” policy in all residential halls, urging students to not allow non-residents inside. However, the policy’s success depends on residents adhering to it.
“A police officer is not going to write you a ticket for letting somebody come in,” Carmichael said. “Like with all community safety, it takes everybody. So the success of “no ID, no entry” really is going to reside with students, we’re there visually as a deterrent.”
Emily Baeza, criminal justice freshman, said she sees UPD officers almost every day at Alamito Hall, where she lives.
While Baeza has never personally felt unsafe in her dorm, she feels safer knowing officers are there, especially following the sexual assault report at Alamito in November 2024.
“If something were to happen, I know that they’re right there, rather than having to call them and wait for someone,” Baeza said.
Carmichael said the increase in patrols is not due to a rise in crime. According to the 2024 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, most crimes in residential facilities decreased from 2022 to 2023, with increases in aggravated assault and referrals for disciplinary action related to liquor and drug law violations.
“Addressing drugs and alcohol on campus is one of our responsibilities, but it wasn’t even a thought for these preventive patrols,” Carmichael said.
UPD has a staffing shortage, reflecting a national trend at police departments, according to Carmichael. He said they are reassigning special assignment personnel, including some detectives and lieutenants, to patrol duties to help alleviate the strain of understaffing.
UPD is also hiring student Public Safety Officers (PSO) to address the shortage. There are currently six student PSOs, with one in the training process and another in the onboarding process, who currently focus on parking enforcement, allowing other officers to shift to dorm patrol.
“It’s starting to get on the cusp of getting better and I feel like by fall we should be back up in a good place,” Carmichael said.
Roommates Ash Alday, health sciences freshman, and Tristyn Garcia, biology freshman, said they only saw officers patrol their dorm, Jackson Hall, for the first two weeks of the spring semester.
Garcia said she feels unsafe in her dorm after experiencing two incidents—one involving a stalker and another in which her belongings, including her Social Security card, were stolen.
“If police were to patrol it would be better than nothing,” Garcia said. “I would feel safer because I do go out a lot and coming back so late to the dorm, just having someone here in case something were to happen again.”
Alday said she hasn’t seen the “no ID, no entry” being enforced at Jackson Hall either because the front door is always open.
“I honestly feel like at any given moment if Tristyn’s stalker or someone really wanted to do something to anybody in this building it could easily happen,” Alday said.
Carmichael said they plan to continue increasing patrols going forward as UPD hires more personnel and PSOs.
“This is an access issue, not just access into the building, but this is a response to access for our students to get to police officers,” Carmichael said. “We have to be good about making it so students don’t have to come to the police department every time they need help.”
If officers are not physically patrolling, Carmichael said they are monitoring security cameras on campus and around residential halls.
Students can contact UPD at 512-245-2805 or use Emergency Call Boxes in an emergency.
