Safety on campus

Campus Security Team

We want all of our students to have the best possible university experience and are committed to ensuring your safety and wellbeing.

We provide a full-time security service on both campuses and are accredited by Secured Environments – a police certification scheme that is awarded to organisations that can evidence a strong commitment to crime prevention and protecting people, property, and data.

The Campus Security Team keeps the University community safe by high-visibility patrolling of the University estate; enhanced lighting; providing advice and raising awareness campaigns; and operating the University-wide CCTV network, which is monitored from our dedicated control centre on Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's. The Security Team can be contacted 24/7, 365 days a year on 0191 515 2028.

Services available

University Security are happy to give advice and guidance to anyone in the University community. They can offer advice by phone, email or face-to-face and can arrange specific briefing sessions if students and staff would like specific advice on:

• Alcohol and drug awareness
• Anti-social behaviour
• Bullying
• County lines
• Cycle safety
• Domestic abuse
• Drink spiking
• Fraud/scams
• Hate incident/crime
• Keeping property safe
• Parking at the University
• Personal safety
• Preventing burglary and theft
• Protecting your identity
• Racism
• SafeZone app
• Sexual consent, harassment, and assault
• Travelling by taxi/private hire vehicle
• Using public transport
• Using social media safely
• Vehicle safety
• 'Walking taxi' scheme from the library to your vehicle/Metro station at night

Campus Security hold regular security awareness events throughout the year. Look out for events and drop by to meet the team.

Reporting an incident or crime

There are a number of systems in place to allow any victim of crime, witness to an incident, or witness to suspicious, inappropriate, or unusual activity to report their concerns to the University Security team. This service is 24/7 and reports can be made by:

• Calling the Security team on 0191 515 2028
• In-person with the Security team
• Emailing security.dutymanagers@sunderland.ac.uk
• Make an anonymous report online
• In an emergency always call 999

Hate and discrimination

The Equality Act 2010 seeks to protect persons from being discriminated against because of their key characteristics – age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. We adopt a zero-tolerance policy against discrimination and abuse. We have a formal procedure to assist any member of staff or student who feels they have been discriminated against. For more information, please refer to the student handbook.

If you have any questions about hate crime or concerns about safety and security at the University of Sunderland, please contact Campus Security.

Sexual harassment and assault

We also adopt a zero-tolerance policy against gender-based violence, including sexual harassment and sexual assault. As well as the reporting link to Campus Security, you can report incidents using our anonymous tool Report It!

Research

Campus security work closely with Dr Nicola Roberts, an Associate Professor of Criminology, carrying out research together to inform evidenced-based practices to ensure the safety and security of our students, staff, and campuses.

If you have any questions or concerns about safety and security at the University of Sunderland, please contact: 

Campus Security:
Tel: 0191 515 2028

Security reception
Prospect Building
Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's