By Scott B. Wong
Daily Bruin Staff
Some students are questioning whether female community service
officers are capable of ensuring campus safety and if escort
services can handle the surge of requests in recent weeks.
But university police assured their CSO program is in top form
and has made adjustments to meet the increased demand for community
safety services.
The CSO escort service allows students to request an officer to
walk them to their desired destination within designated campus
boundaries, from dusk until 1 a.m. seven nights a week.
While the CSO program employs male and female escorts, some
students said they’d feel more secure walking with a male
officer, since most attacks happen to women.
“To a certain degree, there is a comfort in having a male
CSO,” said Yoona Cho, a fourth-year English student.
But the program boasts a perfect record, according to university
police Lt. John Adams, who oversees it.
“If we look at this in its historical context, there has
never been an attack on an escort since the program began in
1977,” Adams said. “We think, regardless of gender, CSO
officers are properly trained in their capacity as the eyes and
ears of police.”
CSO officers have a variety of duties, including monitoring
residence halls, bike patrol, driving evening vans and the escort
service.
The program currently employs 23 female officers ““ roughly
25 percent of the force ““ according to Sarah Parga, manager
of the program.
The department sometimes receives calls requesting male rather
than female officers to walk them home, Adams said.
“Calls have come in for male escorts, but we let them know
that we don’t have gender specific requests,” Adams
said. “We go by who’s closest to ensure a quick,
prompt, efficient service to the community.”
One female CSO said sometimes it surprises callers when she
arrives to walk callers home.
“But I have never had anyone refuse me as an escort in
relation to my gender,” said Christina Havens, a fifth-year
anthropology student.
“It is not important that the CSO possess physical
strength and I can usually explain this to the caller to their
satisfaction,” she continued.
Rose Tseng, who uses the service about four nights a week and
has never had a female escort, said she wouldn’t be concerned
if she did.
“They go through the same training,” said Tseng, a
first-year mathematics student. “They have the same skills,
so why should I be scared just because they’re
female?”
“Basically it’s just another person there, which is
the basis of being safe,” she said.
According to Adams, all CSOs undergo an extensive training
period before they go out into the field.
Training includes observational skills, where officers practice
role-playing in likely situations. They must also complete a
training course in the proper way to use pepper spray, a radio
training, and a field training class.
Upon completion of all training courses, officers must pass a
three-hour final exam to ensure they have absorbed the
material.
Recent bathroom attacks on women in Schoenberg and Boelter Halls
have spurred students to take advantage of the free service,
resulting in an increased numbers of calls for escorts.
The department usually receives about 40 to 50 calls a night for
a CSO escort, but has received 70 to 80 per night in the past few
weeks, according to Adams.
A seven-passenger evening van is being used to expedite the
escort service and accommodate the extra number of callers, he
said.
While CSO escorts walk students directly to their residence hall
or apartment, evening vans only stop at designated points.
But some students said they would rather walk home, because the
evening van service is too slow.
“If it’s just a 10 minute walk, then it’s
better just to walk it than to sit there and wait 25
minutes,” said Angie Ellis, a first-year neuroscience
student.
Second-year pre-psychology student Jennifer Varjabedian works
until 10 p.m. some nights at Moby Disc in Ackerman Union, but often
chooses to walk home to her dorm.
“Sometimes I don’t take the (evening) van, because
it leaves right when I get there, or it will be for the apartments
and not the dorms,” she said.
But Varjabedian feels safer having completed a self-defense
course, which taught her various blocking moves,kicks and how to
strike in the jaw or eyes.
“You never know when you’re gonna need it,”
she said.
To request an escort, call (310) 794-WALK. Evening vans run from
6 p.m. to 12 a.m. Monday through Thursday.