Yale Police Department

The Yale Police Department (YPD) has 93 uniformed police officers with the same authority and badges as the New Haven Police Department (NHPD). The YPD protects and serves the campus 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Officers patrol the campus in SUVs, on motorcycles, bikes, and on walking patrols. The Yale Police also provides advocacy and support for Yale community members who have experienced a crime, and the department works to solve crimes through its investigative services and analysis units.

Yale Police is committed to being fully transparent with the University community. We continually improve our lines of communication with students, faculty, and staff and have developed community outreach and engagement programs, committees, and comprehensive officer training programs to ensure an accountable agency.

We also work closely with local, state, and federal police agencies (including the FBI, Secret Service, and Department of Justice) on campus events, regional law enforcement matters, training, and significant investigations concerning the campus community.

Our Values

Our organization is bound together by core values and principles that we all share. Those values form the ethical basis for our decision-making. As individuals and as an organization, we subscribe to these values:

• Integrity: Basing our decisions on what is legally and ethically right, safeguarding the legal rights, privileges, and dignity of all people.
• Trust: Maintaining the highest level of trust and honesty with those we serve by holding ourselves to the highest standards of performance.
• Commitment: Exhibiting the spirit of determination and dedication that leads to professionalism and the achievement of excellence in every endeavor.
• Courage: Sustaining the mental, moral, and physical strength necessary to carry us through the challenges of policing.

Professional Standards

The Yale University Police Department takes very seriously its obligation to investigate all allegations of police misconduct and will take appropriate action when warranted. Yale police officers are trained to follow the use of force policy to protect the life of those we serve. The process for reporting a complaint against a member of the department is simple and straightforward. Community members should contact Police Communications at 203-432-4400 and request to see a supervisory officer. A supervisor will respond and take the initial complaint, which most often can be resolved expeditiously at that level. Should any complaint require additional investigation, the matter will be referred to the Office of the Chief, which will assign the matter for investigation.

Diversity

A diverse police agency and inclusive environment increases transparency, promotes new ideas, performs at a higher level, and enhances the agency’s ability to continue to serve the community in an increasingly complex, competitive, and diverse world. Yale University has a progressive and diverse police department.

Gender*

• Male: 80%
• Female: 20%

Race*

• White: 54%
• Black or African American: 18%
• Hispanic or Latino: 18%
• Asian: 1%
• Two or more races: 1%
• Unknown: 1%

*Sworn staff includes patrol officers and detectives

Yale Public Safety

Gender

• Male: 77%
• Female: 23%

Race

• White: 61%
• Black or African American: 18%
• Hispanic or Latino: 18%
• Asian: 1%
• Unknown: 1%
• I do not wish to answer: 1%

Data as of May 2023