About the Police Department

The UT Southwestern Medical Center Police Department is the law enforcement agency that provides security, to enforce state traffic and criminal laws and regulations, and takes reports of accidents, offenses, and incidents for the UT Southwestern campus and off-campus properties.

The University Police Department has an authorized strength of:

  • 48 law enforcement officers
  • 79 non-commissioned officers
  • 13 police communications operators
  • 16 administrative and civilian staff

The UT System Board of Regents commissions the Department's officers per article 51.203 of the Texas Education Code. The officers are defined as peace officers under article 2.12 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. University police officers have the power and authority to:

  • Lawfully stop and detain individuals.
  • Lawfully arrest individuals.
  • Obtain and/or execute search or arrest warrants.
  • Enforce state criminal and traffic laws.
  • Issue court-appearance citations for applicable state penal code or traffic offenses.

Training

UT Southwestern police officers are trained at the University of Texas System Police Academy in Austin, Texas, and receive their state peace officer license from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE). They also receive specialized training in various fields and, as required by TCOLE, as part of an annual in-service training.