Gainesville and UF: Safety is a shared responsibility
Published on September 11, 2025
As the fall semester gets underway, the City of Gainesville is working with the University of Florida (UF) to support the needs of students in and around campus. With city and campus law enforcement working simultaneously in slightly overlapping jurisdictions, the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) and University of Florida Police Department (UFPD) will continue to collaborate as partner agencies to ensure the college experience is a safe one.
“The University of Florida has a huge impact not only to our community but to public safety,” says Gainesville Police Chief Nelson Moya. “Understanding the specific and particular needs of the student population, the staff—certainly the parents that send their children here trusting they are safe and will be taken care of—it brings a unique dynamic.”
For GPD, that unique dynamic translates into placing police officers in a position to monitor areas around campus, downtown and midtown—parts of the city that students call home. GPD officers walk the neighborhoods around University Avenue at the start of each school year, knocking door-to-door with messages about personal safety, situational awareness and traffic precautions. Officers also interact with residents of apartment complexes throughout the city, distributing safety flyers and maintaining regular communications with apartment management throughout the year.
These approaches are designed to support the ongoing campus safety efforts established by the University of Florida Police Department. UFPD and GPD work together on specific assignments—such as game day operations and downtown details—but UFPD controls security measures on campus. These include an outdoor and indoor network of cameras, 400 blue light phones, more than 2000 exterior lights, and a set of License Plate Reader (LPR) systems covering 32 campus entry points.
Led by University of Florida Police Chief Bart Knowles, UFPD is focused on both protecting and empowering students by providing the tools they need to stay safe on and off campus. “We will say frequently that safety is a shared responsibility,” Chief Knowles says, “and it’s so important for our students to understand that and stay connected with us and take on that responsibility.”
To build that connection, UFPD and GPD have individually developed safety resources and reporting systems that students can access easily from any computer, laptop or mobile device.
University of Florida Safety Resources
City of Gainesville Safety Resources
- Students are encouraged to contact police immediately when encountering a problem off campus by calling the Alachua County Combined Communications Center at 352-955-1818 (once connected, select “5”)
- In an emergency always dial 911
- Students are encouraged to report tips by calling 352-372-STOP, visiting the GPD website or the Crime Stoppers website, or using the P3Tips app on an Apple or Android smartphone
- The Downtown Ambassador Program offers safety escorts seven days a week in Downtown and the West University Avenue Corridor; to request a safety escort call 352-710-6406
- The city has added a public encampment reporting option to the myGNV assistance app, available online or from the Apple Store or Google Play
- Alert GNV sends emergency notifications, timely warnings and other important community news
The shared public safety commitment extends beyond city and campus police, which both rely on a network of partner departments and agencies to protect the Gainesville community. This includes the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, Alachua County Fire Rescue, Gainesville Fire Rescue, the Florida National Guard, the Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Working together as the school year begins, the City of Gainesville and the University of Florida encourage students, faculty and staff to stay connected, use available reporting tools, and download the GatorSafe and Alert GNV apps—because a secure campus and community relies on everyone doing their part.