Do NYU Students Feel Safer Calling NYU Campus Safety or the NYPD in an Emergency?

The NYU campus safety team is in charge of keeping students safe, and are meant to respond to emergencies as soon as possible. The NYPD is meant to do the same, however, New Yorkers are waiting 15 mins on average for a cop to arrive. 

Do students believe NYU campus safety or NYPD are the fastest option? 

According to NYU's website, campus safety will connect the student to their 24/7 hour line to be helped immediately.

“They answered the phone, but they didn't arrive immediately,” says Beatriz Loducca Franca, a 21-year-old student. “They arrived after 20 minutes.” 

NYU Campus Safety is located at 7 Washington Place, roughly a 15-minute walk from the Third North, Founders, UHall and other off-campus dorms. 

The NYU Campus Safety department urges students to call 911 or the NYPD for life threatening emergencies, but for all other incidents, to call them directly. 

Some students feel that campus safety would be the faster option as their job is to protect students, because perhaps they wouldn’t be as busy as the average police department. 

The NYU Campus safety department also sends out emails to all students once an incident is reported, to make all other students aware of the situation. 

“I like how they send emails regarding incidents that happen in our area so I can be aware of what's going on,” says Dani Picerini, a 20-year-old student at NYU. “The NYPD doesn't do that so honestly, I'd probably call campus security if it wasn't a major emergency because they would help me just as much, and that way I can get the word out to other students.” 

Not only does NYU send out emails, but on their website, all students can access a time-stamped “Daily Crime Log,” showcasing all reported crimes over the last month. 

According to NYC.gov, the average response time for NYPD varies depending on the situation. For non-critical cases, the NYPD’s average wait time is 29 minutes and 96 seconds, whereas for critical cases, it is 9 minutes and 42 seconds. 

In comparison, the NYU Campus Safety officers are meant to respond to any situation immediately. NYU also offers a Safe NYU app for students to report incidents in case they don't feel comfortable calling. This app provides free after-hours transportation to students, along with other pro-safety features. 

Fernando Ciobataru, a 19-year-old student at NYU, says, “I would call 911 in life-threatening situations because they would probably arrive quicker than campus safety, but, if the situation weren’t life threatening, I would call campus safety.”