Student Safety
The Department of Public Safety (DPS) works 24/7 to keep community members safe across the college’s urban campus. DPS controls campus, oversees the on-demand RISDRides service, and offers training, education and other resources to enhance community safety.
Report an emergency
If you or someone you know may be in danger or is having a medical, mental health or safety emergency, call the 24-hour Public Safety emergency line at 401 454-6666 (extension 6666 from a campus phone).
Public Safety Officers are trained EMTs and can respond to emergency situations on or near the RISD campus.
RISD!Alerts
The RISD!ALERT emergency notification system uses email, text messages and push notifications via the LiveSafe mobile app for quick distribution of time-sensitive information to students, faculty, and staff. The RISD!Alert system 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 an emergency, we encourage the use of all three RISD!ALERT notification methods:
- Email: RISD email addresses are automatically enrolled in the RISD!ALERT system.
- SMS text message: 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: RISD students, faculty and staff may download the LiveSafe 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 emergency.risd.edu for more details. Watch emergency.risd.edu and/or the LiveSafe mobile app for the most up-to-date information.
If you are a parent and receive an alert, contact your student to make sure they have also received the alert.
Read our annual safety report
Each year in accordance with the Clery Act, we share a security and fire safety report that includes crime statistics, campus security procedures and institutional safety policies. To download our comprehensive report, follow the link below.
