Penn #1 in Security 500 for 14 Consecutive Years!

Security Magazine’s Security 500 has chosen the University of Pennsylvania’s Division of Public Safety as the #1 Public Safety program in the Higher Education Sector for the 14th year in a row! Maureen S. Rush, M.S., CPP,  Vice President for Public Safety & Superintendent of Penn Police announced the award, stating, “as always, we accept this honor, recognizing that ‘Safety and Security is a Shared Responsibility’ that includes our entire Public Safety Team, our community members, and all of our partners from Penn Medicine and University City District, as well as Allied Universal, JCI, and others.”

This year brought unique challenges for everyone, and DPS consistently pivoted to meet the needs of our community. Public Safety co-chaired the University’s COVID-19 Response Task Force in the Spring and continues to provide support and guidance for the University’s planning for the Spring 2021 semester. We continue to support Penn Medicine COVID-19 testing sites and have assisted in distributing PPE supplies the West Philadelphia community. Security Magazine also highlighted our university-wide approach to address life safety issues, as well as our focus on community-based, Guardian-style policing.

The purpose of the Security 500 is to create a reliable database to measure against peer institutions and create a benchmarking program among security organizations.