The Police Department is responsible for providing public safety services, resources and education to the CU Boulder community.
Operations
CUPD is a full-service police agency that provides a variety of police services to the university community including: 24/7/365 police patrol, criminal case investigations, facility and residential security, crime prevention programs, victim rights amendment compliance and social program referrals, traffic and parking code enforcement, emergency and disaster preparedness planning, hostile threat assessment and response, and event security oversight.
University of Colorado Boulder police officers are armed and authorized to make arrests, issue summonses/citations and execute arrest and search warrants. Criminal cases investigated by the University of Colorado Police Department are forwarded directly to state (District Attorney) and municipal (City Attorney) prosecutorial authorities for review and filing of charges.
University police officers’ authority to act as “peace officers” as defined in Colorado Revised Statute (CRS) 16-2.5-101 is based in authority vested in the University of Colorado’s Board of Regents by CRS 23-5-106. University of Colorado police officers are commissioned under state authority as defined in CRS 24-7.5-101 through 106, and are also issued City of Boulder, Colorado Police Commissions.
Police services also include Residential Service Officers (RSOs) who are aligned within our patrol staffing to allow for appropriate enforcement of lower level violations within the residence halls when practicable. The fleet and property and evidence sections provide essential support to police services.
Our Community Safety Officials (CSOs) provide professional staff security services for special events, in select buildings, and provide door lock monitoring services.
Support Services
Support Services is comprised of the emergency communications (or dispatch) center, a property and evidence section and a police records section.
The communications center, a member of the Boulder Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority (BRETSA), is one of four public safety answering point (PSAP) or E-911 call-centers operating in Boulder County, Colorado. It provides 24/7/365 radio communications support to police and parking units, and answers 911 calls from the CU Boulder community. CUPD's emergency communications technicians are designated first responders.
The property and evidence unit is the first university police department in North America to earn the SCS Northwest Evidence Management Professional Accreditation certificate, a process that took about two years to complete. SCS awarded the certificate to the unit in June, 2021.
Just like a municipal police department, the CUPD records department provides a fundamental mission services to CUPD, acting as the custodian of criminal justice records for the agency.
Administration
The information technology unit is responsible for strategic planning regarding the application of information, communications and other technologies to the accomplishment of the department’s mission, and for the maintenance of technologies implemented in support of the department’s mission.
The human resources and finance units, part of the Division of Public Safety, are primarily responsible for budgeting, purchasing, and accounts payable functions.
Professional Standards
The professional standards section has the responsibility of conducting background investigations on potential department employees, writing policies and investigating complaints against officers.
This unit is also responsible for recruitment and hiring, training and accreditation.
