University Police

Safety at CWU

The University Police provides police services to the Ellensburg, WA campus of CWU. University Police operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, providing commissioned and state certified officers with complete arrest and investigatory authority.

The University Police works closely with neighboring law enforcement agencies, including the Ellensburg Police Department, Kittitas County Sheriffs' Office, Kittitas Police Department, and the Cle Elum-Roslyn Police Department. University Police has a written agreement with these agencies for mutual aid responses. A similar written agreement has been made with all of the Washington State four year public higher education institutions. In addition to written agreements we work closely with the Washington State Patrol, Washington State Liquor Control, Kittitas County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and other criminal justice agencies.

CWU students are expected to adhere to the Student Conduct Code whether they are on campus or off campus. Through coordination with local law enforcement agencies, any criminal acts committed, either on and off campus, by students are shared with the CWU Chief Conduct officer for any action or follow up.

Physical Security of Campus

The main CWU campus is part of the city of Ellensburg and as such is an open campus. The academic and administrative buildings are open to the public, at a minimum, during normal business hours. Most facilities have individual hours, and the hours may vary at different times of the year. Access to some of these buildings are controlled by key or card access after normal business hours, and all of the buildings have varied levels of access. At night buildings are locked and accessible by only those who have assigned key or card access.

The CWU Campus is well lit and improvements in campus lighting are continually being made, including the placement of high intensity LED lights on buildings, in parking lots, and along sidewalks and paths frequently traveled. Police Officers and other staff look for security concerns such as overgrown shrubbery and poor lighting. All concerns are sent to Facilities Management so improvements can be made. In addition, the Environmental Health and Safety Office make regular health and safety inspections across campus.

University Police and Public Safety employs students in a program called the Courtesy Assistance Team (CAT). The CAT team provides walking companionship from campus buildings to parking lots or residence halls. As party of their duties, the CAT employees also conduct security checks of buildings to make sure that doors and windows are locked and secured and walk through open buildings so their presence is known.

In addition to a telephone line in each student’s room, outdoor emergency lights (Blue Lights) are located at the entrances to each residence hall. Blue light phones are also placed strategically across campus and can be utilized by pushing the “call button”. These phones are answered KITTCOM who will dispatch emergency responders. KITTCOM is the consolidated 911 center for numerous public safety agencies in Kittitas County, and dispatches CWU Police, Fire and Medical services to Central Washington University.

University Police may serve verbal or written trespass notices to persons present on campus in a secured area for which they have no legitimate business or if they exhibit inappropriate behavior for the campus community. If a person served with a prior trespass notice reappears on campus, he or she is subject to an immediate arrest.