Ohio State police cars sit behind the Ohio Union South Garage as scooters and bicycles are parked nearby. Credit: Hana Alghamdi | Lantern Reporter
“911, where is your emergency?”?
The phrase repeats multiple times in a 24-hour cycle as calls come into the Ohio State Police Station’s dispatch center at Blankenship Hall.
Rows of bright screens on a video wall light up the room, showing activity across campus, as dispatchers handle both emergency and non-emergency calls across four computer screens in front of them.
Non-emergency calls to the Ohio State University Police Department account for most responses, indicating that campus safety is shaped more by everyday incidents and reflects what students are most likely to encounter.
In 2025, OSUPD responded to 44,763 calls for service. Only 1,157 were 911 calls, and most of them involved suspicious activity, thefts and alcohol-related incidents.
Jon Gray, one of the six communication supervisors at the dispatch center, said the calls come in consistently throughout each shift but vary with the time of year and campus activity.
“Summertime, typically less calls, just less students on campus,” Gray said. “Game days, we’re going to have a higher visitation rate.”
Dispatchers gather information from callers and send it to officers. They work alongside surveillance staff who monitor about 9,000 cameras across campus, which help track movement and assist officers in real time.
This coordination helps officers respond more quickly and with updated information as calls come in, many of which are not emergencies, Gray said.?
Gray added that calls come from anywhere on campus, with about one-third coming from the university’s medical center.?
“When it comes to the hospital, you really never know what you’re going to get,” Gray said.
Lt. Bruce Allen said the types of calls officers respond to reflect the campus’s size and activity. They range from reports of stolen items to situations where someone feels unsafe, requiring officers to respond quickly based on the information they receive.
“If that’s someone calling in and saying, ‘Hey, my backpack was stolen,’ or … ‘Someone’s following me, I don’t feel comfortable,’ we track that and dispatch an officer accordingly,” he said.
Allen said officers also make routine checks, including driving around campus and walking through buildings like the Ohio Union, while dispatchers monitor their location at all times.
In March 2026, OSUPD recorded a total of 34 thefts and about 20 crisis-related calls, including well-being checks.
“With 100,000 people on campus, and laptops and phones out, every now and then something’s going to get taken,” Allen said. “Which isn’t that bad when you think about the traffic that we have on campus.”?
He said the types of calls officers respond to can vary depending on the time of day.
“On night shift, there’s a lot of alcohol violations … we have disorderly conducts, your drunkenness calls,” he said. “We’re just getting people where they need to be at the end of the night.”
Dan Hedman, director of marketing and communications, said serving a campus like Ohio State involves more than just students.
“Because there’s fans, visitors, folks at the medical center, people that aren’t affiliated with the university at all,” Hedman? said.?
Allen said many calls come from people noticing something out of place or in need of assistance, even when there is no immediate danger.?
“When you see something weird, pick up the phone and give us a call,” Allen said.
