About the Department
The University Police Department (UPD) provides policing services to San Diego State University. Our police officers and emergency dispatchers are graduates of a California Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) academy and are empowered by section 830.2 (c) of the California Penal Code. Our officers are state peace officers and their policing powers extend throughout the State.
On an average year, our officers and dispatchers handle roughly 45,000 incidents. UPD deploys officers on foot, bicycles, and patrol vehicles. Our detectives work quickly to resolve cases and connect victims/survivors with resources. The traffic unit focuses on traffic-related safety, education and enforcement. The K-9 unit supplements our patrol efforts, while our community resource officer focuses on community outreach and engagement. Our Special Operations Unit (SOU) focuses resources on current crime trends/issues, including developing crime prevention strategies.
Other critical units comprising the UPD include parking enforcement officers, professional staff found throughout the Department, including the Records Unit, Property and Evidence Unit, Key Issue & Access Control Office, and Parking Operations. We also proudly hire our own students to serve as our community service officers (CSO) to augment our policing goals.
We pride ourselves on the strength of our working relationships with our community. UPD embodies the principles of community policing. In other words, working collaboratively with our community in order to prevent and solve crime, while building trust and legitimacy. See more on our community policing efforts.
45,000
OFFICERS
In Patrol Vehicles
On foot
K-9 UNIT
On Bicycles TRAFFIC UNIT