You and the University Community

• A Message from Chief Ottman
• Emergency Information
• Personal Safety

A Message from Chief Ottman

On behalf of the members of your UAFS Police Department, I extend a Lion welcome to our campus to you and your family. Our members are here to assure your time on campus is safe and enjoyable. Whether you need to gather information before your arrival or check out current activities once you’re here, we want this informational booklet to be of value to you.

Safety in our surroundings where we work, live and play continue to be a focus of law enforcement. This safety is a focus and primary concern of the University Police Department. The University Police Department is comprised of uniformed officers who are state certified by the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training. Student members of the department add eyes and ears on campus and help provide efficient and timely services to all stakeholders. Our officers continue to receive professional training to increase our ability to provide the most professional and effective police services.

Our department is committed to the philosophy of community policing and strives to maintain campus partnerships to enhance the experiences of students, faculty, staff, and visitors. The annual crime statistics for UAFS are also published on the university website. If you have any questions about the statistics, please call my office at 479-788-7140 or feel free to email me at ray.ottman@uafs.edu.

The UAFS Police Department is committed to serving the needs of the university community. When you need assistance, I will ensure you receive the same level of service you would expect from any other professional law enforcement agency.

In order to make our campus as safe as possible, I would like to invite every member of our community to do their part by protecting themselves and their property. Let’s work together to make UAFS a safe place to live, learn, and work!

Ray Ottman
Director/Chief of Police

Personal Safety

Each student is issued a Lions ID card, which must be retained while they are registered at the university. In order to protect the safety and welfare of students and employees of the university, and to protect the property of the university, all people at events or on property under the jurisdiction of the university shall identify themselves to an appropriate institutional representative who has identified themself. A person identifies themself by giving their name and complete address and stating truthfully their relationship to the university. A person may be asked to present some form of identification. If any person refuses or fails upon request to present evidence of their identification, and it appears reasonable that the person has no legitimate reason to be on the campus or in the facility, the person may be removed from the campus or facility.

Your safety on campus is vitally important. The need for campus security is broader than personal safety. It is central to our educational mission. There are many steps we can take to protect ourselves from crime. Many crimes occur because there was an opportunity for them to happen. For example, most crimes of theft and burglary are random, not calculated. They occur because community members leave a residence apartment door, room door or window, or car door unlocked. On a campus like UAFS, it is easy to think that nothing will happen. But crime can happen anywhere. Follow these simple steps to reduce your chances of victimization:

• Keep emergency numbers on or near the phone. Report suspicious activity, thefts, and other criminal activity immediately.
• At night walk in well-lit areas with a friend or in a group. Utilize the University Police escort program if you cannot find anyone to walk with you. Be aware of your surroundings. Do not ignore your intuition; if you suspect you are being followed, change direction or head for a campus building, group of people, or emergency phones.
• Never prop open or alter a door in any manner so that it will not close properly.
• Do not admit unauthorized or uninvited people into your residence. Report suspicious people immediately.
• Keep your doors locked at all times when you are in your room and when you leave.
• Never give out information about yourself or others to strangers on the phone.
• Do not carry or flash large sums of money.
• Do not leave backpacks or books unattended at any campus facility. Print your name inside every textbook you own.
• Engrave all personal items such as stereos, calculators, and computer equipment.

Emergency Information

Closing Because of Weather Conditions

Bad weather occasionally makes it necessary to cancel classes or close campus. To find out:

1. You are already signed up for email messages on LionsAlert, but you can also sign up for text and voicemail messages as well by editing your LionsAlert profile on My.UAFS. LionsAlert is the best way to know about cancellations.
2. Check the UAFS website at uafs.edu and look under “News.” Click on the weather story for details.
3. Call the main UAFS telephone number, 479-788-7000, to hear a recording.
4. Announcements are provided to local radio and television stations that have requested to list our information, but you should use more than one means of obtaining information since procedures at some stations do not allow for different announcements for day and night classes or for a sudden cancellation.
5. Sebastian County will issue a tornado warning through the National Weather Service (NWS) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. University personnel and students will be alerted through several methods including the Civil Defense sirens that will sound to alert people outside to seek shelter as well as Lion’s Alert. When a tornado warning is issued, all university personnel and students are to seek shelter immediately. Do not return to offices or classrooms until an “all clear” is announced. For more information, reference the Emergency Action Plan Quick Reference Guide.

If No Announcement Is Made, Classes Will Be Held.

Separate announcements will be made for day and evening classes. Classes starting between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. are considered day classes. The decision to cancel day classes will typically be announced by 11 p.m. the evening prior. Night classes are those starting at 3:45 p.m. or after. The decision to cancel night classes will be announced by 2 p.m. If no announcement is made, classes will take place.

Off-campus sites will follow closing announcements for the facility where the classes are being held. If the facility is closed by the organization that maintains it, university classes at that site will not take place. Off-campus sites owned and operated by the university will follow closing announcements for the main campus. University officials will make announcements through the university’s official media outlets concerning weekend activities hosted by the university. The decision to close campus facilities on weekends will follow the times for weekday class cancelations with consideration given to earlier cancelation times if sufficient information is known.

Judgement Call

Students should use their own best judgment in severe weather situations. If students feel it is unsafe to travel to campus when classes are in session, students should then contact individual instructors for a possible solution to make up coursework.

Lions Alert

The safety of the students, faculty, and staff of UAFS is of utmost importance. To that end, UAFS has implemented a notification system to provide timely and accurate information to our campus community during emergencies. Lions Alert provides a secure, web-based emergency alert system that sends text and voice messages via cell phone, land line telephone and email. Lions Alert gives UAFS a comprehensive, real-time, mass-notification system to keep the campus community informed of emergencies, and to give instructions on how to respond to those emergencies. To help make Lions Alert live and online, UAFS automatically adds the contact information of students, faculty, and staff to the system. To update or remove contact information from Lions Alert, access Lions Link at uafs.edu. Informational emails concerning Lions Alert will also be sent each semester.

Questions regarding Lions Alert should be directed to the Service Desk at uafs@service-now.com or 479-788-7460.

Concealed Carry

In 2017 the Arkansas Legislature passed AR Act 562, which allows concealed carry on public college campuses with certain restrictions.

Policy Statement: AR Act 562 allows lawful concealed carry in buildings of and on the grounds of public university campuses in Arkansas with certain exceptions. Those who carry on the property of UAFS are responsible to know Act 562 and other applicable laws. Related university regulations, which include a mandate to follow the provisions of Act 562, will be enforced thoroughly and fairly.

If you are a victim of a crime or have been involved in a personal safety issue on this campus, you are encouraged to report this to the University Police Department. If you simply wish to talk confidentially about what happened, contact the Counseling Center or Crisis Intervention Center (off campus). The following are resources available to you: