The Security Department provides 24 hour access control to the undergraduate residence halls through a combination of proprietary and contract security officers and specially trained student attendants. Access control is supplemented by an online computerized card access system linked to student identification cards. The majority of these units are located in the area from West 109th to West 125th Street between Morningside and Riverside Parks in the area known as Morningside Heights. Some units are located on Haven Avenue between 169th and 173rd Streets and are used primarily to house students enrolled at the Health Sciences campus. These buildings are managed and operated by University employees.
Superintendents reside either in, or in close proximity to, the buildings.
At selected academic buildings, a card access and alarm monitoring system, with video support monitored 24 hours a day, has been installed at the security operations desk. Motorized and foot patrols, coordinated with neighborhood security organizations as well as the security departments of Barnard College, Teachers College, Presbyterian Hospital, and other affiliated institutions, patrol all campuses and their environs. All Columbia University buildings on the Health Sciences campus are also patrolled by security officers. The area from 168th Street to 174th Street along Fort Washington and Haven Avenues is patrolled by Columbia Security as well. Morningside Area Alliance provides daily patrols in the neighborhood, primarily between the hours of 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.