Night
escorts provides student safety
By Ramón Torres
On-line Forty-Niner
Safety.
That is the only thing psychology major
Freda Robinson can say about the night escort
service provided by University Police through
the Community Service Officer program.
Robinson said this is her second semester
at Cal State Long Beach and has been using
the service on a regular basis since she
arrived.
The program was introduced more than five
years ago and is completed by Community
Service Officers, said Michael Boldon, lieutenant
of administration services at the University
Police.
“CSOs are students that maintain an acceptable
GPA average and want to provide a service,”
Boldon said. “Some students do it as a part-time
job but others desire to go into law enforcement.”
CSOs dressed in black or gray shirts with
University Police and CSO lettering with
pin-on identification name badges and a
hand-held radio, which contacts the police
dispatcher directly.
“I enjoy doing this, it fits with my class
schedule,” she said. “And I get pay at the
same time I provide a service.”
Poole said that in a busy night she helps
around 40 people, mostly students that want
to get to their cars.
The CSOs answer calls for escorts, to unlock
and secure buildings, and to provide additional
crime prevention patrols to the parking
lots, buildings and dorm facilities.
Boldon said the busiest time of the year
for CSOs is around midterms and finals.
“We have about 43 CSOs to provide the service,”
he said. “But if for some reason we do not
have enough escort officers at any time,
we ask the person to wait in a safety place
while the police department arranges to
do it.”
Escorts may be requested Monday through
Thursday from 5 p.m. to midnight by using
a Code Blue telephone, a public pay telephone,
or by dialing (562) 985-4101.
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