Police Services

University Police officers are the primary means for emergency first response for a crime, suspicious circumstance, medical crisis, intrusion, fire alarm, or other critical incident situations.

Uniformed officers patrol the campus 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Officers may be on foot, in a vehicle, on bicycle, or in an electric GEM car. If there is an increased threat in a particular area due to recent crime or suspicious persons, officers will conduct extra directed patrols of that area. If you have concerns about a specific area or incident and would like to request directed patrols, please visit Weizenblatt Hall or contact police@unca.edu.

Officers will respond to crime scenes and conduct follow-up investigations. This includes all aspects of a thorough investigation, including but not limited to: collecting evidence, conducting interviews, constructing reports, gathering testimony, and collaborating with other law enforcement agencies and the local District Attorney.

University Police also provide police and security services to off-campus facilities utilized by the university. Crimes that occur in the facilities while being utilized by the university are counted and disclosed in the annual crime statistics for the institution.

Officers direct and monitor vehicular traffic on campus and adjacent roadways. They enforce all traffic laws, making stops when appropriate. When vehicles are involved in accidents, officers investigate the circumstances and complete all reports. Please visit the Reports & Statistics page for information on obtaining a copy of a report.

University Police officers will provide dead battery jump-starts and key extractions for keys that have been locked in vehicles. These services are only available for vehicles located on campus and can be accessed by calling the dispatch center.

With proper credentials, University Police will unlock and secure buildings and rooms on campus upon request. Proper credentials for students include building passes from the Chair of the department with an authorization email being sent in advance to police@unca.edu. The authorization email should include a list of students and the specific area they are authorized to access. Building passes will be distributed to individual departments by University Police. Faculty or staff need to provide ID before gaining access to buildings after hours or when providing unlocks for offices.

Students, faculty, and staff can request a safety escort whenever they feel unsafe on campus. An officer will respond and escort the person to the requested destination. We encourage community members to call especially if they are parked in remote locations, it is dark, or there is no one else around. After hours escorts may be provided to nearby apartment complexes for students.

The University Police Department may provide non-emergency medical escorts to students when needed. Student health services is located at 118 W.T. Weaver Blvd, and a campus shuttle runs Monday-Friday to transport students. In cases where the student is unable to ride the shuttle University Police will assist.

The department will register identifying information for valuable property in an electronic database for future reference in case of theft. When an item is stolen, identifying information (such as a serial number or owner applied number) is necessary to enter it as stolen in the national database. By registering the information with University Police, in the event the worst happens, the department will have it entered into the National Crime Information Center (or NCIC) database so that if pawn shops and other police agencies throughout the country find the property they will be notified that it is stolen and provided the owner’s information.

For items that do not have serial numbers, or if a student would like to have an item engraved with identifying information, we offer property engraving. To have an item engraved, please contact University Police dispatch at 828-232-5000 to schedule a time to meet with an officer.

University Police will register bicycles on campus free of charge. By filing the identifying information with the department the information is easily accessible. In the unfortunate event that your bicycle is stolen, it can can be entered into the national database in a timely manner increasing the changes of locating it. Registration includes listing the bicycle and owner information on a registration form and placing a decal on the bicycle. This can be done by visiting Weizenblatt Hall or asking an officer during any of our bicycle safety outreach programs.