SAFE-T Patrol, Safe Arrival for Everyone G
it is the reassurance said OUPD Sgt. John Stabler, adding the number driving escorts have been reduced because of previous abuse by students using SAFE-T Patrol as a personal taxi service.
McCune said when OUPD cut SAFE-T Patrol from its budget several years ago, Campus Services stepped in to fund it through Parking Services funds.
We wanted to make more of a presence by going back to walking escorts McCune said, adding that it is for this reason that driving escorts have been reduced to those with medical needs.
SAFE-T Patrol also receives funding through students' general fee. During Student Affairs' April hearing in front of the student committee charged with evaluating general fee usage, university officials said SAFE-T Patrol couldn't sustain more cuts and might have to be abolished.
Nine weeks into this quarter, SAFE-T Patrol has escorted approximately 100 students. The first five weeks of Fall Quarter 2005, 65 students used the service. In the first five weeks of Fall Quarter 2006, 92 students were escorted by SAFE-T Patrol, McCune said.
SAFE-T Patrol employs 12 to 16 students a quarter who work a maximum of 20 hours per week. First-time students start out at minimum wage, McCune said.
If SAFE-T Patrol picks up someone who is intoxicated and their safety is at risk, they will notify OUPD. Otherwise, they are fine, McCune said.
Several students said they did not know what SAFE-T Patrol was or had not heard of it before.
Jill Carlson, freshman biological sciences major, said she has never used SAFE-T Patrol.
I stay on lit paths
and sometimes
I talk on my cell
she said. She also said she holds her keys between her fingers, just in case.
Sophomore Connor Hogan's only experience with SAFE-T Patrol is pressing the button on one of the blue light emergency phones and talking to a person until a guy who had been following him disappeared.
The blue light emergency phones can be found all over campus and connect students and visitors to the OUPD by pressing a red button located on the phone. The phones help the OUPD to locate callers and send aid when needed.
SAFE-T Patrol escorts can be arranged by calling 740-593-4040.
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Caitlin Bowling
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