CSOs
lead students through dark days
By Alexis Kindig
On-line Forty-Niner
It
gets dark earlier these days, and with the
recent rash of Amber Alerts, walking across
campus or through the parking lot by one’s
self can be an unnerving experience.
 But
thanks to the University Police’s Community
Service Officer program, no one at Cal State
Long Beach need ever walk alone.
According to Sgt. Bonnie Myers of the campus
police, about 35 to 45 Community Service
Officers are hired each semester. The CSOs
are students themselves, and are available
to escort students or faculty members anywhere
on campus, anytime.
Officer Daniel Valdez, says that CSOs
also occasionally make escorts as far as
the neighboring Veterans Administration
Hospital or Brooks College. In addition,
Myers says the CSOs perform around 48,000
escorts annually.
According to Valdez, the CSOs are not armed,
as they are not actual police officers,
but they do undergo background checks and
training.
Myers says, CSOs can be reached through
any emergency telephone, the Code Blue telephones,
or the red button on all on-campus public
telephones.
Myers
said. Students can reach the campus police
department at (562) 985-4101 to request
an escort.
Also, CSOs can be recognized by their black
or gray polo shirts with University Police
and CSO markings, and by their photo identification
badges.
According to Valdez, the CSO program evolved
in 1994 from a program originally offered
by the University Student Union.
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