University of Maryland Police Department Makes Strides to Help College Park Residents Be Aware with New Alert System

College Park, once lovingly referred to as “the livable community,” is starting to get the nickname in a sarcastic way. Many students receive UMD alerts, the technological system in place to notify the community of emergencies, but don’t understand how they work. This uncertainty, combined with a system that did not run smoothly, leads students and residents of College Park to feel unsafe. A new alert system eliminates issues of messages containing unclear abbreviations, being choppy, being sent in multiple messages that sometimes came in the wrong order and receiving "all clear" messages without having received initial alerts. 

Alerts are now streamlined so recipients see them in the same place.

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act states all universities that receive federal funding are required to disclose information about crime on and around campus

It is hard to remember a time when people weren’t constantly connected to their cell phones, but Major Marc Limansky, the commander of the technology services bureau of the University of Maryland Police Department (UMPD) explains the struggle of trying to alert students before SMS was widely used.

Aside from a siren system on campus implemented in 2001, the only other way to alert people at the time was to post fliers all over campus. In the years following, technology was on the rise. UMPD brainstormed ideas for a mass-messaging alert system when tragedy struck the nation.

“All of a sudden [the mass shooting at] Virginia Tech happened and we realized we need this now,” Limansky said. The 2007 campus shooting resulted in 32 deaths and 17 injuries.

With the help of a grant for a Roam Secure Alert Network through Cooper Notifications, UMD alerts were created. The open system allowed anyone to opt in to the alerts.

The old system quickly became overloaded with participants, causing delays in alerts

Last May, UMPD realized there were too many inactive participants in the system. There were over 290,000 devices signed up to receive alerts, many of which included media outlets or people just curious about what was going on in College Park, and only about 37,000 students and 23,000 faculty and staff members.

In order to fix this problem, UMPD switched to a new system called Nixle. The new system narrows the participants down to only UMD affiliates (students and faculty) and clears inactive participants twice a semester. Graduates are in the system for an additional semester after graduation. In addition to UMD affiliates, College Park locals have the option to receive alerts. Business owners and residents are able to receive alerts upon verification of an address in College Park.

Major Marc Limansky clarifies UMPD jurisdiction

UMPD has concurrent jurisdiction with the College Park Police Department, which means officers can patrol Old Town College Park and the apartment buildings in the area where many students live. In comparison, many other university police can only patrol on campus.

Under Nixle, there are three levels of notifications: alerts, advisories and community messages. Alerts are used when people could be in danger and advisories are used to raise awareness about a situation, such as school delays and closings. Community messages are the most lax and are typically used to alert the town of traffic and alternate routes on game days.

Deciding which type of alert to send out is not black and white. Most times, a dispatcher cannot send an alert based off of a phone call because callers do not use proper terminology, such as a robbery versus a burglary, which can change the meaning and severity of an incident. Getting the alert out in a timely matter is important, too.

Now, alerts are formulated using a template that leaves space to fill in the location of an incident to reduce construction time

"The goal is to get [the alert] out within 15 to 20 minutes, but we won't send it out if there is still uncertainy about the incident," Limansky said. Once UMPD has verification of an incident, such as a witness, the alert process can begin. 

Limansky explains the alert process

            While some students feel they don't get the alerts they need, some feel they get too many. In an anonymous survey, one student said alerts make him feel less safe “because they're constant emails about alerts and most of the time the bad people are never caught.” For this reason UMPD recognizes alerts as a double-edged sword.

Limansky states alerts sometimes create a negative perception of the area.

Nowadays UMPD expects students should receive notices less frequently. It strives to send alerts only about situations that are severe in order to reduce the amount of and negative perception surrounding alerts. 

Theft rates decreased by over 14% from 2013 to 2014, but burglary is still an issue in College Park

While overall crime in the community is declining, there was a surge in burglaries last semester in Old Town College Park. Jonathan Fix, a senior at the university and a resident of the 4800 block of Norwich Road, was a victim of one.

Fix came home one morning to find the front door unlocked. Slowly but surely, he and his roommates realized some of their belongings were missing.  After a thorough search of the house they concluded two laptops, five watches and a backpack were stolen. His house was one of three houses broken into that night, which left Fix feeling unsafe.




An alert went out about an hour after officers from UMPD and the College Park Police Department arrived on the scene. For weeks after the incident police parked on the corner of Norwich Road and Rhode Island Avenue, which helped Fix and his roommates feel more secure. The burglar was never caught, but the roommates took comfort in knowing UMPD did its best.

Limansky urges all residents to take advantage of all UMPD's hotlines. He says, "There is no problem too small [to call about]. It is better to be safe than sorry."

UMPD urges students to be proactive with the slogan, "See something. Say something."

Jonathan Fix explains how students can stay safe.

At the end of the day, UMD alerts cannot prevent crime, and it is hard to find evidence showing whether or not they have actually kept anyone safe. What these alerts can do is make the community aware, and from there it is up to the students to take preventative safety into their own hands.

Subscribe to UMD text alerts at alert.umd.edu

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For police escorts call (301) 405-3555