Public Safety

The safety and security of our campus population is of paramount importance to W&M. We recognize that faculty, staff, and students must be safe and feel safe to flourish in their respective endeavors. We know that safety and security challenges “touch” almost every aspect of university life – whether it be in housing, classrooms, research labs, study areas, outdoor activities, or everyday interactions. And we also know that those providing safety and security services must approach their tasks with one overall purpose and a coordinated manner to be most effective.

The Office of Public Safety, directed by the Associate Vice-President for Public Safety and Chief of Police, was created to ensure all safety related services are centrally coordinated and efforts integrated where most effective. The Office employs best-practices, effective communications, informed preparedness, and professional responses for all safety related services. This Office oversees the Police Department (including security and emergency communications), Emergency Management and Risk Management & Insurance.

A short summary of these areas is listed below. More in-depth information is provided through the links provided on this page.

William & Mary Police - The Police Department employs fully sworn police officers with investigative expertise and full powers of arrest. All members of the Department use a Community Policing approach to facilitate effective working relationships with students, faculty, staff, and university organizations.
Emergency Management - The Emergency Management area facilitates an All-Hazards Approach to mitigation, planning, response, and recovery efforts on behalf of the community. They support the Emergency Management Team and the Emergency Operations Center in times of critical incidents or broader emergencies.
Risk Management & Insurance - This area processes and manages issues that may affect loss to the university. This includes policy proposals. incident reporting related to injuries, property damage, and other types of loss; and working with insurance company claims to recoup expenses where possible.

We are committed to working together to provide our faculty, staff, students and visitors an environment in which they feel safe.

Questions?

Direct inquiries to:
Don Butler, Chief of Police and Interim Associate Vice President for Public Safety
201 Ukrop Way, Williamsburg, VA 23185
757-221-4596