PCC
Timely Warnings / Emergency Notifications (PCCAlert) — Annual Security & Fire Safety Report
Pima Community College — a multi-campus district serving the Tucson, Arizona metro — issues emergency notifications and timely warnings through PCCAlert, a text-message and email system that the PCC Police Department activates for emergencies affecting the life safety of the College community, with timely-warning authority resting with the Chief of Police.
Read the official policyInstitution
Pima Community College
Community College · AZ
~41,000 studentsPCCAlert
In the policy’s own words
What the policy says
PCCAlert activation and purposeverbatim
PCC has activated the PCCAlert notification system to provide accurate information and guidance via text message and email to the PCC community about emergencies affecting the life safety of the College community. Anyone can sign up for PCCAlerts: students, parents, employees and members of the community.
- — Defines the trigger as emergencies affecting life safety and opens enrollment to parents and the broader community, not just students/employees.
Timely-warning criteria and authorityverbatim
If a crime is reported to have occurred within the PCC Clery Geography that in the judgment of the Chief of Police (or designee in PCC Police) constitutes a serious or continuing threat to the community, a campus-wide Timely Warning will be issued.
- — Places timely-warning activation authority with the Chief of Police (or designee) and ties the trigger to the Clery 'serious or continuing threat' standard within Clery geography.
Annual / per-semester testingverbatim
The PCCAlert system will be tested at least once a year, and in some cases, testing may occur once per semester. Every effort will be made to notify the College community in advance of testing by regular means of communication.
- — Documents the Clery-required test cadence (annual, sometimes per-semester) with advance notice to the community.
Email retention to keep members reachableverbatim
The College will NOT remove college email accounts from PCCAlert to ensure active community members are receiving this important safety information.
- — Email enrollment is sticky by design so active students/employees can't inadvertently drop off the life-safety list; mobile numbers are managed via Banner.
At a glance
How this policy works
- When it activates
- Timely warning: a crime reported within the PCC Clery geography that, in the judgment of the Chief of Police or designee, constitutes a serious or continuing threat to the community — a campus-wide warning is issued. Emergency notification: confirmed emergencies affecting the life safety of the College community, pushed via PCCAlert text and email.
- Who decides
- The Chief of Police (or a designee in PCC Police) judges whether a reported crime poses a serious or continuing threat and authorizes a campus-wide timely warning; the PCC Police Department activates PCCAlert for life-safety emergencies.
- Timeliness standard
- Timely warnings are issued campus-wide when the Chief of Police judges a serious or continuing threat exists; PCCAlert is activated to provide accurate information and guidance about emergencies affecting life safety.
- Emergency notification vs. timely warning
- Distinguishes timely warnings (Clery-reportable crimes posing a serious or continuing threat to the community, per Chief of Police judgment) from emergency notifications (emergencies affecting the life safety of the College community via PCCAlert), under the Jeanne Clery Act and the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act.
- Testing cadence
- PCCAlert is tested at least once a year, and in some cases once per semester; the College makes every effort to notify the community in advance of testing by regular means of communication.
- Scope & limits
- Anyone can sign up for PCCAlerts (students, parents, employees, community members); College email accounts are not removed from PCCAlert so active members keep receiving safety information. Mobile numbers are updated via Banner.
ChannelsSmsEmailWebsite
Analysis
Reading the policy
Pima Community College (PCC) is the principal community-college district for Tucson and Pima County, Arizona, operating multiple campuses and learning centers. Its emergency communications run on PCCAlert, an opt-in/opt-out text-and-email notification platform managed by the PCC Police Department. The College's branding is 'PCCAlert' rather than 'PimaAlert'; older student-facing references also used 'PCC Alert.' The system is documented in the PCC Annual Security & Fire Safety Report, prepared in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act and the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act.
PCC has activated the PCCAlert notification system to provide accurate information and guidance via text message and email to the PCC community about emergencies affecting the life safety of the College community. Enrollment is broad and inclusive: anyone can sign up for PCCAlerts — students, parents, employees, and members of the community — and the College deliberately will not remove College email accounts from PCCAlert so that active community members keep receiving safety information. Students and employees update their mobile numbers through the Banner system, and employees are asked to note a cell number in the Banner field used for emergency texts.
On the Clery framing, PCC separates the two federal instruments. For timely warnings: if a crime is reported to have occurred within the PCC Clery geography that, in the judgment of the Chief of Police (or a designee in PCC Police), constitutes a serious or continuing threat to the community, a campus-wide timely warning is issued — locating activation authority squarely with the Chief of Police. PCC describes itself as responsible for reporting to the campus community significant crime incidents on or near the campuses that may pose a continuing threat to campus safety and security. Emergency notifications, by contrast, address confirmed emergencies affecting the life safety of the College community and are pushed through PCCAlert's text and email channels.
On testing, PCC publicizes a regular cadence: the PCCAlert system is tested at least once a year — and in some cases once per semester — with the College making every effort to notify the community in advance of testing by regular means of communication. The College also maintains a Timely Warnings/Bulletins archive of issued notices, and publishes emergency-response procedures alongside the PCCAlert description in its Annual Security & Fire Safety Report.
Takeaways
Key findings
PCC's system is branded PCCAlert (not 'PimaAlert'); it delivers life-safety emergency information by text message and email and is run by the PCC Police Department.
Enrollment is unusually broad — students, parents, employees, and community members may sign up — and College email accounts are deliberately never removed so active members stay reachable.
Timely-warning authority rests with the Chief of Police (or designee), triggered by a reported Clery-geography crime constituting a serious or continuing threat to the community.
PCCAlert is tested at least once a year and sometimes once per semester, with advance notice to the community by regular means.
Mobile numbers are updated through Banner; the system and emergency-response procedures are documented in the PCC Annual Security & Fire Safety Report.
Policy, meet practice
When this system actually fired
7 documented times PCC’s alert system was used, from the case archive.
Provenance
Sources
- Official
- Clery ASR
- Official
- Official
Tags
policyemergency-notificationtimely-warningcommunity-collegepccalertarizona
Added 2026-06-21Updated 2026-06-21Via ingestion