Police escort service gets new publicity
Associate Students of Utah State University Ombudsman Alyssa Lambert is concerned about student safety and is increasing the promotion of the Utah State University Police Department’s safety escort service.
“I think the USU Police escort [program] is a very important thing for students to know about,” Lambert said.
The safety escort service has been available for at least 15 years, Shane Sessions, USU Police, said. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, he said.
“It’s an underutilized service at Utah State University. Why not use it?” Lambert said.
The student ombudsman committee has placed signs advertising the service at the circulation desk in the libraries and residence halls, Lambert said. Approval has been granted to make the signs a permanent fixture in the campus computer labs as well, she said.
“I tried to get them everywhere students were on campus late at night,” Lambert said.
The committee’s goal is to have a sign in every building over the next few weeks, she said. Expense for the advertising is being covered by the budget given to the student advocate.
The signs come in response to Lambert’s platform when she was running for office last spring. Lambert’s platform states, “I will serve the students of USU by increasing student awareness, improving resources available to students and enhancing the quality of life on campus.”
“I try to represent the underrepresented – the unheard,” Lambert said of those [students] who might want to call a safety escort, but feel uneasy about it.
Sessions said he is glad the ombudsman is publicizing this service. While in a meeting last spring, someone asked why the USU Police didn’t have a safety escort service. He said his response was that they did.
“These fliers hopefully will help,” Sessions said.
The signs are shades of blue and white and are the size of a normal notebook paper. On the sign, a straight-faced police officer stands in front of Old Main with his hands on his belt and the text reads, “24hrs a day. Anywhere on campus. For whatever reason.”
The police officer on the sign is modeled after one of USU’s own, Lambert said. One of the reasons Lambert and the USU Police believe that the service isn’t used to its full capacity is that people don’t know that it exists, Lambert said.
“Without a doubt, [the safety escort service] could be used more,” Sessions said.
Ashley Hunt, a junior majoring in exercise science, said she had never heard of the service and had not seen the signs. She said she didn’t think she would ever use it, “unless I have a stalker.” This year, the safety escort service has been used 31 times, or a little less than once a week. Police have received two calls since the signs were posted a week ago, Sessions said.
“I’m hoping that this will make people feel safe,” Lambert said.
She said students who don’t have cars might want to use the service because the shuttle stops running at 7 p.m. and USU is still in the Red Zone – the time when college women are most at risk for experiencing sexual assault and/or date rape – until the end of November.
Natalie Nyman, an undeclared freshman, said she learned about the service in her Connections course. She said she has “never really needed” the safety escort, but is glad that it is available.
“I always, always have a guy friend walk me home. They’re generally pretty good about that,” Nyman said.
Police advise to call ahead for a safety escort, but they can usually arrive anywhere on campus in fewer than 10 minutes. Wednesday night, a police escort took six minutes to arrive to the Science and Technology Library, Sessions said.
For information about the escort service, call 797-1939. Upon calling, the dispatcher will ask the caller’s current location, where he or she wants to go, and then enter the caller into a database with the caller’s full name, address and phone number.
“I’ve used it and it makes me feel very comfortable,” Lambert said.
-natandrews@cc.usu.edu