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NEWS
| NOVEMBER 18, 2005
Safety
Petition created to extend safety
service
Rise in usage of nighttime escort
service prompts student to form petition.
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| The Shorthorn: Sara Bookout |
| Steven Adams, escort services
supervisor and social work senior, drives Sam’s
Safe Ride through campus, taking students to various locations
around campus Thursday night. |
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By Tracie
Morales
The Shorthorn assistant news editor
The demand for Sam’s Safe Ride is averaging 150 to 200 phone
calls per night and has prompted a petition to extend its services.
Sam’s Safe Ride, which was created in 2002, is a safety escort
for students that the UTA Police Department provides. It offers
rides between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.
Steven Adams, escort services supervisor and social work senior,
is collecting students’ signatures to extend the service to
a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. schedule. He said he wants more drivers to be
hired, the service to be provided on Fridays and a separate dispatcher
to forward escort requests to the drivers.
Students can sign the petition when riding with an escort driver
or start their own and give it to a driver.
“Everybody I’ve asked [to sign] has said yes,”
Adams said.
He has turned in a proposal of his ideas to Debra Klingler, UTA
Police Department transportation supervisor and is trying to collect
1,000 signatures to support his proposal. He said he plans to present
his ideas to university officials until they are implemented.
Klingler said the request for student escorts increased from 1,895
in October 2004 to 2,941 in 2005.
She also said the higher demand hasn’t affected the service,
but if increases continue, more drivers will be employed.
“There’s no doubt in my mind,” she said.
Klingler said she attributes the high demand to campus crimes, the
weather, finals and word-of-mouth. She said all of these factors
promote the service’s visibility.
“Our cart drivers are watching,” she said. “If
there is anything suspicion going on there’s more eyes and
ears on the campus.”
Adams said that because he is the only driver some nights, students
may have to wait longer for a ride. He also said that if dispatchers
receive a police call, it takes priority, and any escort requests
are placed on hold.
“I try to keep it where the students have a two-minute wait,
but I still hear [students] are waiting 20 to 30 minutes from the
time I get the call [from the dispatcher]. After I get the call,
I’m there in two minutes.”
Adams said the service has decreased homeless drifters on campus,
and if the hours were extended, it may prevent crimes that happen
after 1 a.m.
Lt. William Cox, the previous division commander for the service’s
division, said he couldn’t confirm if the service worked in
lowering the risk of crime.
“It has certainly given people reassurance,” he said.
“It lends a sense of security.”
Cox said that if the hours were extended, it would be a trial basis
and that hiring more drivers needs reviewing.
Nursing junior Shellie Cortez said she quit going to the library
alone at night after learning about an attack against a female near
Pickard Hall on Oct. 28. Now she studies at the library with a friend,
whereas previously, walking around campus at 2 or 3 a.m. was normal,
she said.
“Before, I ignored things, but now I pay attention, just to
check,” she said.
Nursing freshman Kristin Hotz said she went to Maverick Stadium
recently to run laps, and on her way back she noticed a stranger
following her.
“I ran to my friend’s house,” she said. “As
soon as I got to the stairs, he turned away.”
Hotz programmed the number to the escort service into her phone
after seeing bulletins alerting students of reported campus crimes.
Adams said he escorts students in the sweltering heat and the bitter
cold, but he doesn’t do it for the money.
“I have a daughter. Do you think I want her in this environment
— in this world?” he said. “No, I want her safe.”
CORRECTION
This story should have attributed the quote, “It
has certainly given people reassurance. It lends a sense of security,”
to Lt. William Cox. |
NEED A RIDE?
Call 817-272-3381
7 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday
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