Campus safety
Crime prevention measures
The University of Cape Town main campus is set on the slopes of Devil's Peak on Table Mountain. It is a sprawling campus in close proximity to the Southern Suburbs of Observatory, Mowbray, Rondebosch and Newlands. The M3 highway also cuts through the university, dividing the upper campus from the middle and lower campuses.
It is an open campus with many access points to both cars and pedestrians.
UCT is therefore an integral part of the community, and as such we are constantly exposed to the risk of criminal activities, both on and off campus.
The following measures were put in place to ensure the safety and security of our staff and students. It is important, however, to always be vigilant.
- A total of 215 fixed and 42 PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom) cameras are installed across campus. The cameras are successful crime-management tools. We have secured a number of arrests over the years owing to the monitored camera recordings. A number of crimes have been avoided due to early detection and appropriate intervention.
- The preferred pedestrian route, the Blue Safe Walk Route, is well established and we recently added additional bollards in Japonica and Lovers Walk. Students are encouraged to follow this route when walking between upper and lower campus. These routes have nine emergency bollards, evenly spaced along the routes. These are covered by CCTV and have an intercom linked directly to Campus Protection Services (CPS). Each bollard has a very distinctive flashing blue light on the top for easy identification.
- All residences are fenced and a comprehensive access-control system is in place.
- A considerable effort has been made to light the campus, minimising dark areas.
- The staff at CPS has increased over the years to 138 CPS officers. The personnel are split into three shifts covering all campuses. The full staff complement for crime-protection services is 157. The staff is well trained.
- Our UCT policy on security matters is solid and Campus Protection Services (CPS) operates its six service centres, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Their activities are closely monitored, recorded and they continue with close surveillance of buildings and numerous physical patrols.
- The number of crime prevention officers who specifically patrol inside buildings has been increased. They highlight areas of negligence, such as doors and windows that have been left unlocked. They are designated to specific buildings and have become familiar faces to staff.
- A comprehensive upgrade of the card access-control system is planned for 2009 and we have fast-tracked a building-by-building security assessment. We are encouraging all staff and students to wear their UCT identity cards at all times.