Parents & Families
Safety and Security on the Virginia Tech Campus
Virginia Tech is committed to ensuring a safe and secure campus environment exists for all students, faculty, and staff. In doing so, the following measures are in place in order to better safeguard our community.
Campus and residence hall community
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51 blue light safety phones are spread throughout the campus and local community – all safety phones are connected to the campus 911 emergency operator.
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Virginia Tech sidewalks and pathways are well lit for students, faculty, and staff walking to and from class or car during the night – lighting is routinely checked for proper functioning and reports are made to a dispatcher for replacement of a bulb or repair.
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Residential buildings are now locked 24 hours a day, seven days a week and only accessible through a key card (Hokie Passport).
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Only residents with a key card (Hokie Passport) may access their own residence building.
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Door alarms with electronic access will sound an alert if an exterior door is propped open in a residence hall.
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A list is maintained of on-campus students with special needs for safety planning or evacuation assistance due to visual, hearing, or other temporary or permanent disabilities.
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Smoke detectors are in all residence halls and fire drills occur at least once per semester in residence halls.
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Resident Advisors (RA) collaborate with the Virginia Tech Police to support the “Gotcha Program” where officers patrol residence halls for unlocked doors and other safety issues and leave a note warning students that their belongings or personal safety could have been in jeopardy had the officer been a criminal.
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Resident Advisors work evening shifts during which they make scheduled rounds throughout their residence hall checking for safety or health concerns – reports are made to resident directors or police as needed.
Virginia Tech police
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The Virginia Tech Police Department is a nationally accredited, full-service 60 person law enforcement agency with 41 uniformed officers.
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In addition to 911 response, Virginia Tech provides a police dispatcher on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by contacting 540- 231-6411.
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The Virginia Tech Police Department works closely with the Division of Student Affairs to ensure the safety of our students through the following initiatives:
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Crime Hotline (anyone can anonymously report a crime – more information can be found at the VT police website at www.police.vt.edu.)
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Safe Ride (a VT police department sponsored program – operates from dusk until dawn providing transportation or a walking escort upon request to individuals who have to cross campus alone during the nighttime, contact 231-SAFE.)
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Campus Watch Night Time Patrol (offered by the VT police department – patrol personnel are near or around the areas of residence halls from 10:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m.)
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Awareness Bulletins (daily reports posted about crimes that may be occurring or warnings of potential dangers – can be found at VT police website.)
Virginia Tech emergency alert practices
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VT Alerts – offers three new methods for alerting the campus community and beyond about emergency situations. The newly developed system will allow students to sign up for the services – they can provide a cell phone number, instant message (IM) contact, or additional phone numbers in order to receive a text message, an IM, or an audio message in the event of a campus emergency. These newest capabilities add yet another layer to the university’s multi-faceted emergency notification channels. Mandatory sign up for VT Alerts is being considered. All students will be notified directly by email during the week of July 2 with detailed subscription instructions, at that time they can subscribe through a website, 24 hour a day, 7 days a week.
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Emergency notices are posted in a timely manner on the Virginia Tech homepage.
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The weather/emergency hotline is an effective tool in notifying the campus community in the event of an emergency; contact 231-6668.
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Broadcast e-mails are sent when necessary during an emergency situation to all students, faculty, and staff.
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Broadcast phone mail messages can be sent to all campus phones – in residence halls and offices.
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Campus sirens and loudspeakers will sound and give instruction in the event of an emergency.
In addition to the evident security features in place, Virginia Tech also offers a variety of educational and safety programs throughout the academic year to inform and educate students about the importance of campus safety and security. The Virginia Tech events calendar will be your source for obtaining up-to-date postings about safety and security programs to come. The events calendar can be found at www.calendar.vt.edu.