University Police hired about 40 on-call employees to participate in the Walk Safe program after transitioning to a paid staff.
The campus safety service, providing students with point-to-point walking escorts, has shifted from student volunteers to an established staff hired by the police department. The on-call employees work two days a week and earn $8.50 per hour.
The funding for the Walk Safe program is provided through the Office of Vice President for Business Affairs, UPD spokesman Maj. Brad Barber said.
The program was implemented immediately after battery attacks on campus and off campus, said UPD Officer Wayne Clark. Before being hired, employees are thoroughly screened to ensure the safety of students.
Barber said UPD created the Walk Safe program in lieu of the state’s mandate on the number of officers police departments are allowed to hire. In addition to Walk Safe, more officers have been shifted to the night shift to provide a greater level of staffing during evening hours. This shift helps provide more coverage at night, when past incidents have occurred, Barber said.
“Educational outreach doesn’t start just because an incident happened and doesn’t end because it has been quite some time since the incident occurred,” he said.
A video of an interview with Barber can be seen here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vrye-SNaUc&feature=youtu.be
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 11/24/2014]
