The University of California, Merced, Police Department is committed to ensuring the campus community receives timely, accurate and useful information in the event of a significant emergency or dangerous situation on campus or in the local area that poses an immediate threat to the health and safety of campus community members. The department will issue an emergency notification without delay; unless issuing a notification will compromise efforts to assist a victim or to contain, respond to or otherwise mitigate the emergency.
Some examples of significant emergencies or dangerous situations include but are not limited to:
- Earthquake
- Gas leak
- Terrorist incident
- Armed intruder
- Bomb threat
- Civil unrest or rioting
- Chemical or hazardous waste spill
- Building or wildland fire
- Explosion
EMERGENCY or URGENT communications should contain the following:
- First words: UCM Alert
- Location of incident, date, and time of incident (Mandatory)
- Brief incident description and immediate action required (Mandatory)
- Anticipated action required, if known (Optional)
- Status of campus (e.g., closed, shelter in place) (Optional)
- Additional detail necessary to preserve safety and security (Optional)
- Web site or contact information for additional information regarding incident (Optional)
Follow up/status update notifications are sent after an initial notification message has been previously disseminated to provide any new information or instructions for the campus community such as changes in protective actions.
An “all-clear” notification should be sent, when an immediate threat is past or the situation has ended or at the conclusion of an event when it is helpful to provide an all clear message.
“All-clear” communications should contain the following information:
- First words: UCM Alert
- Date and time of all-clear notice
- Actions required to resume normal campus operations (Optional)
- Explanation of the resolution/conclusion of incident (Optional)
For information on how you can prepare for emergency incidents, please visit the Emergency Preparedness website.
