Crime Prevention and Safety Resources

Learn about essential safety procedures, and find additional programs and guidance for ensuring a safe RISD community.

Safety essentials

Our Code Blue phone system provides a quick, reliable way to request urgent services, report suspicious activity, or alert us to crimes in progress. These interactive voice communication and lighting units are blue in color that emits a blue strobe light engineered to be visible at great distances. Prominently placed to show that our campus is well secured, Code Blue phones also act as a crime deterrent.

CODE BLUE PHONE LOCATIONS

1 Washington Place (Illustration Studies Building)
13 Waterman Street (Waterman Building Alley Entrance)
48 Waterman Street (East Hall)
55 Angell Street
60 Waterman Street (North Hall)
60 Waterman Street (North Hall Rear 2nd Floor Entrance)
130 Point Street
161 South Main Street
231 South Main Street (Bayard Ewing Building)
345 South Main Street (Continuing Education)
Benefit Street at College Street (College Building)
Benefit Street at Meeting Street (Colonial Apartments)
Benefit Street at Waterman Street (RISD Beach)
College Street at North Main Street
DeFoe Lot 1 (Pardon Miller)
Mason/Fletcher Building
Metcalf Building
Prospect Street at Olive Street
RISD Auditorium (FAV Studio Entrance)
RISD Auditorium Alley (ADA Entrance)
Woods-Gerry Lot (DeFoe Place)

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An AED medical device checks the heart rhythm of a person in medical distress to determine if their heart requires a shock, and provides voice prompts, lights and text messages to instruct responders in administering emergency measures. AEDs are critical tools for first responders in providing immediate care ahead of transport to an emergency medical facility.

We have placed many AEDs across campus. In addition, our EMTs carry portable AED units with them at all times.

AED LOCATIONS

15 Westminster Street (Public Safety booth)
20 Washington Place (1st floor near auditorium)
41 Meeting Street (studio space)
123 Dyer Street (near Payroll office)
130 Point Street (studio space)
187 Benefit Studios (studio space)
189 Canal Street Studios (1st floor hallway)
Bayard Ewing Building (main lobby)
Benson Hall (1st floor)
Carr Haus (near 1st floor restroom)
Chace Center (1st floor coat room)
CIT Building (1st floor lobby)
College Building (3rd floor stairwell)
College Building (5th floor stairwell)
Continuing Education (main lobby)
Design Center (1st floor lobby)
Design Center (4th floor hallway)
Ewing Center (1st floor)
Fletcher Building (6th floor)
Health Services (outside med room)
Illustration Studies Building (1st floor lobby)
Industrial Design Building (2nd floor lobby)
Market House (1st floor hallway)
Memorial Hall (1st floor lobby)
Met Dining Hall (near dish room)
RISD Auditorium (main lobby)
RISD Museum (Farago coat room)
Student Fitness Center (monitor desk)
Tillinghast Place Studios (studio space)
Waterman Building (lobby)
What Cheer Garage (near break room)
What Cheer Studios (1st floor hallway)
Woods–Gerry Building (1st floor restroom space)
Public Safety EMS vehicle

More AED information from the National Institute of Health

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RISD subscribes to RISDAlerts, a mass notification system that is designed to alert our community in the event of a campus emergency. This system uses email and text messaging to send time-sensitive information to students, faculty and staff members, and rebroadcasts wireless emergency alerts (WEAs) in addition to campus-specific safety messages.

To ensure that you receive the information you need in the event of a campus emergency, we offer three notification methods:

Email: All RISD email addresses (@risd.edu) are automatically enrolled in the system and will receive RISDAlerts.

SMS text messages: RISD students, faculty and staff must designate a cell phone number in Workday to receive text notifications. Here’s how to update your contact information in Workday.

Push notifications: RISD students, faculty and staff may download the RISD Mobile app from the Apple App Store or Google Play and enable push notifications.

In the event of a major campus-wide emergency, alerts will also appear in a prominent banner at the top of this website with a link to risd.edu/emergency for more details.

NOTIFICATIONS FOR GENERAL PUBLIC (NO @RISD.EDU EMAIL)

Anyone who does not have an @risd.edu email and wishes to receive RISDAlerts via text can opt in by texting “RISDALERT” to 226787. This shortcode subscription service is intended for the families of RISD students, as well as nearby residents.

Screenshot of a text to 226787 that says RISDALERT, with following messages from the emergency notifications provider.

The shortcode text alert service will remain active for 365 days. When the subscription expires, subscribers will receive a text inviting them to re-subscribe. You can stop at any time. Just reply “LEAVE RISDALERT”, or “STOP” to any RISDAlert text message.

Message and data rates may apply. Text messages are sent on an as-needed basis. This service is provided per the RAVE Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

If you are a parent and receive an alert, contact your student to make sure they have also received the alert.

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A personal alarm is a device that can help protect you in emergency situations by emitting a highly audible sound to attract the attention of people who can come to your aid, and possibly scare away potential threats.

You can pick up a personal alarm keychain by stopping by our office in South Hall (30 Waterman Street).

Please note that the personal alarm is not a substitute for contacting Public Safety. If you feel unsafe and/or need to report an incident, call our 24/7 emergency line (401-454-6666) or dial 911 for police/fire/emergency medical services.

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ALICE ACTIVE SHOOTER RESPONSE TRAINING

RISD community members can contact us to receive ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training, a civilian response training program delivered with a trauma-informed approach. To schedule, email pubsafe@risd.edu. For more information, see the ALICE FAQ.

FIRST AID, AED AND CPR TRAINING

We offer classes in first aid, CPR, proper AED use, and more, free of charge to students, staff and faculty.

NATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL (NCPC) PROGRAMS

The NCPC offers monthly programs that DPS promotes via campus-wide announcements, our newsletter, and Instagram.

Call or email us if you are interested in any of the above.

Code Blue Phone and AED locations on campus

To find the nearest Code Blue Phone and/or AED, search the RISD campus map for pinpoint locations. To see a text listing of locations, click the expand icon at the upper-right of the map to open in Google Maps. If you’re on your smartphone device, click “View map legend” at the bottom of the screen; you’ll find AED and Code Blue Phone locations listed at the bottom of the legend.

Campus Hazing Transparency Report

In accordance with the Stop Campus Hazing Act (SCHA) and section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, RISD publishes its Campus Hazing Transparency Report, which is a report of any student organization that has been found responsible for hazing. To view our full anti-hazing policy, including prevention/education programs and how to report allegations of hazing, please see RISD’s Anti-Hazing Policy.

View the current report (June 2026)

View the Dec 2025 report