About Us
The Purdue University Police Department (PUPD) is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). CALEA accreditation is a voluntary activity designed to ensure that the department's policies and practices meet an established set of rigorous professional standards.
To provide any comments, commendations and or other information regarding the agency's quality of service or other information relevant to the accreditation process, please click here. All inquiries about the Persona Non Grata (PNG) should review the online university policy for additional information.
PUPD is staffed by highly trained professionals who use advanced equipment and techniques to maintain campus safety and security. This includes 45 certified police officers who each completed 14 weeks of training at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy and average 80 hours of training per year after that.
Members of the department receive many types of training, including de-escalation training, which helps officers remain calm and react more effectively when confronted with anger. These skills should help reduce the chance of escalation to physical aggression. The training includes interactive exercises involving body language, posturing and empathetic verbal language.
The department’s Use of Force General Order is compliant with newly enacted Indiana Public Law 12 (House Bill 1006) and prohibits the use of vascular neck restraints unless deadly force is warranted. De-escalation training is also integrated in the Use of Force policy as required by law.
Many PUPD officers are specially trained as Crisis Intervention Team (CIT), using the Memphis model, to safely de-escalate contacts with mentally ill persons. CIT officers work with a number of internal and external partners including the Purdue Office of the Dean of Students (ODOS), Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and the mental health system in Tippecanoe County to get help for people in need. The CIT program is an innovative, community-based approach to improve the outcomes of these encounters.
In an effort to provide transparency, PUPD offers a variety of programs, including a citizens police academy. This academy is held on an annual basis and is used as an educational outreach program designed to provide citizens with a greater understanding of the inner workings of their police department and of the role that law enforcement plays within the community.
PUPD also voluntarily participates in the National Incident-Based Reporting System or NIBRS. NIBRS provides crime data to the FBI for analysis, comparison and publication.
The Purdue University Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is available in the Your Campus, Your Safety Report.
PUPD plays an important role in compliance with the Clery Act and other federally-mandated laws. Our full-time Clery Act Compliance administrator works with other internal and external partners toward this goal.