The Community Safety Department provides a full range of services aimed at preventing and responding effectively to safety incidents on York’s campuses and is committed to openness and transparency in all the services it provides to the York community.
Below you will find information and statistics on the full range of safety services provided by the department, as well as monthly and annual reports on the types of safety incidents that require a response from the department’s Security Services staff.
Community Safety Service Statistics At a Glance April 2019 - March 2020
goSAFE
goSAFE is staffed entirely by York University students who provide escort services to community members to help them get safely around York’s campuses in the evening. In addition, goSAFE staff conduct weekly audits of on-campus exterior lights, automatic doors, and emergency phones. They also operate the Lost and Found at Keele campus. In 2019-20:
- 6,620 students, staff and faculty utilized the goSAFE escort service, with an average wait time of 7 to 10 minutes.
- goSAFE staff conducted weekly checks of 178,020 on-campus exterior lights, automatic doors and emergency telephones.
- 3035 lost and found items were received. Approximately 80% of high value items (e.g., wallets, cellphones, laptops) were successfully returned to their owners.
Community Relations and Crime Prevention
Community Relations and Crime Prevention staff collaborate with groups on campus to promote safety; undertake Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) audits; analyze statistical information to formulate crime prevention programs and services; and conduct safety planning for events on campus. They are also responsible for installation and maintenance of CCTV and door access infrastructure and operations for the community. In 2019-20:
- 5,265 students, staff and faculty participated in 92 safety presentations and training sessions
- Security and safety assessments were conducted for 13 major events and many smaller events on York’s campuses
- Orientation week planning with over 1000 Orientation Week leaders
- 95 digital messaging screens upgraded
- 1500 CCTV cameras maintained
- Responded to 3,784 requests for campus access with an average 542 people on campus per day
Fire Prevention
Fire Prevention staff conduct fire drills and inspect buildings and equipment to ensure that they are in compliance with all fire code regulations. In 2019-2020, staff conducted:
- 26 fire drills
- Monthly inspections of 96 buildings at Keele and Glendon campuses for a total of 1,153 fire inspections.
- 148 active fire alarms occurred and were followed up on by Building and Fire Code Compliance staff
- Safety equipment checks of 25 Fire Pumps, 60 Fire Standpipe Systems, 80 Fire Sprinkler Systems, 74 Fire Alarm Systems, 1,390 Fire Extinguishers, 17,624 Emergency Lights, and 30 Emergency Power Systems
Emergency Preparedness
Emergency preparedness staff develop plans and provide training and education to ensure that the University responds effectively in an emergency situation. In 2019-20:
- 3 Emergency Response Warden training sessions were held
- 40 new Emergency Assembly Point (EAP) signs were created and installed across our campuses
- The University’s plans for responding to All Hazards and to Weather, Pandemic, Active Attacker and Pandemic emergencies were updated
Security Services
Security staff are available 24/7 to provide a full range of security services, including:
- the Security Control Centre which is the central 24/7 security dispatch, alarm, and closed-circuit television (CCTV) monitoring hub for the University’s campuses;
- conduct CCTV pans of the university continuously with the assistance of CCTV student staff (who work with Security Services in the Security Control Centre);
- campus patrols by foot, bicycle, and vehicle;
- first aid, health and crisis response to individuals experiencing illness or injury, assault, entrapment etc.;
- safety bulletins and emergency communication alerts;
- emergency vehicle escort and coordination for police, firefighter, and paramedic services;
- check-ins with community members working evenings through the Why Work Alone program, weekends and escorts if the goSAFE service is not available;
- Security Watch personnel who are stationed overnight in undergraduate residences, conduct patrols and respond to calls for service;
- Investigations and Threat assessment personnel who do safety risk assessments for events on campus; develop personal safety plans for at-risk individuals; conduct non-criminal investigations and assist police with criminal investigations, follow up and investigate community complaints.
In 2019-20, the Security Control Centre received 12, 026 calls and Security Services staff responded to 2,851 security incidents. A total of 309 investigations were conducted by Security Services' Investigations and Threat Assessment.
The reports below provide additional statistics on the numbers and types of safety incidents that security staff respond to. It should be noted that data collection systems are being updated continuously during the course of an investigation into an incident, and changes to statistics in previous reports are common and expected.
The data contained in these reports are taken from York University Security Services Computer Information Systems.
Below is an explanation of terms used in the department’s statistics reports:
REPORTED:
Reported refers to the number of incidents which occurred on or in relation to University property that were reported to York Security Services.
NOT SPECIFIED AREA (NSA):
Not Specified Area refers to incidents that have been reported to York Security Services without a specific location or the specific location is undetermined.
OFFENCE:
An Offence is any violation of Federal Laws, Provincial Statutes or Municipal by-laws.
PROPERTY CRIMES:
Property Crimes involve unlawful acts with respect to property but do not involve the use or threat of violence against a person. These include actual and attempted break and enter, theft, mischief, arson, and fraud categories.
CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS:
Crimes Against Persons involve the application and/or threat of violence to a person. These include sexual assaults, non-sexual assaults, harassment, homicide, abduction, indecent acts, intimidation, robbery, and uttering threats categories.
INCIDENTS AFFECTING QUALITY OF LIFE:
Incidents Affecting Quality of Life involve unlawful acts that do not pose a direct threat to an individual but have an impact on the perception of safety and fear of crime. These include bomb threats, disorderly behaviour, cause disturbance, smoking complaints, damage, emergency medical, fire alarms, suspicious vehicles and persons, trespass, occupations and demonstrations, and hate incident categories.
OTHER INCIDENTS:
Other Incidents include requests for information, unfounded occurrences, hazardous substances, missing persons, and motor vehicle collision categories, among others.
COLLECTION OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE STATISTICS:
Please note that the department’s sexual violence statistics only represent incidents reported to York Security Services. These statistics do not reflect incidents reported to the Centre for Sexual Violence Response, Support and Education... which is the lead intake and coordinating office for sexual violence reports and maintains its own statistics. Survivors have the option of reporting to York Security Services if they wish to in addition to reporting to the Centre.
Security Incident Statistics
2019-2020 Five Year Incident Category Comparison
2020-2021 Fiscal Year Comparison
Weekly Security Incident Logs (WSIL)
This report provides annual statistics on the types of service requests and incidents reported to Security Services or identified by Security staff on patrol. These statistics fluctuate from year to year for a variety of reasons, and are influenced by greater community engagement and awareness of the importance of reporting safety incidents, which has increased from 2016 onwards. Other mitigating factors influencing reporting of statistics include major events such as labour disruptions, the pandemic, large scale events on campus etc. The University encourages reporting of incidents and transparency of statistics to ensure robust response and prevention efforts are in place and so that the community feels comfortable reporting.
Please note, the annual figures for some categories of safety incidents listed in this report are very small and in these cases and trends can only be identified if the figures are examined over a longer timeframe.