Campus Escort Service History

The University of Nevada Campus Escort Service:  A Brief History

            Campus Escort began as a walking service in the 1984-85 academic year by a group of student leaders and volunteers from fraternities and various other clubs on campus looking to take a proactive approach to safety on campus at night.  The program was directed by a student appointed by ASUN. ASUN also funded the program and bought the radios, computer, and the printer used by the students.  The program at that time was unreliable, sporadic and lacked accountability and legitimacy while it escorted about 2 people a night.

In September 1985, the Police Chief made a proposal to ASUN that his department take over the program in order to give the service more credibility and to expand the service by using vehicles for transportation. ASUN supported the proposal for these reasons and in order to reduce the liability of ASUN in running such a high-risk program. University Police used non-paid reserve police officers (called Campus Safety Officers) who were motivated to serve in order to become eligible for sponsorship by University police to the police academy.  They generally had four CSO’s at any given time, the majority of whom were not university students.

In 1986 the CSO’s began receiving wages from University Police and assumed other police functions in addition to providing escorts and by 1990 they were supervised by a full-time Police Officer and moved into main University Police Station.  The program was primarily funded by Police, except for an occasional special request to ASUN for equipment, wages, or the primary vehicle that was used to provide escorts.  Unfortunately, the officer in charge did not have the time needed to promote the program nor to secure additional funding.  In addition, he did not have time to provide the required training for the CSO’s. 

As a result, in 1994 the Escort Service was added to Mike Hendi’s responsibilities under the direct supervision of the University Police Administrative Sergeant.  Until this time, Hendi was Director of ASUN Security (.50) and was paid by ASUN fees.  This additional .50 FTE was state-funded.  Hendi hired the first group of full-time students and the first women for the program.  With a full-time director devoted to the success of the program, Campus Escort immediately increased the average from around eight to twenty-five escorts per night. 

From 1994-1996 the CSO’s remained under University Police and the Director reported to the Administrative Sergeant.  They received formal training from the University Police and other entities in order to improve their self-defense, CPR, First-Aid, and driving skills to provide better service for faculty, staff and students.  In addition, University Police provided back-up for the CSO’s when needed and officers had access to the Reno Police Blue Frequency.  In turn the Campus Escort Program played an important role for safety on campus and also promoted good public relations for the University Police Department.  CSO’s became extra eyes and ears for the University Police and since the employees were level one Reserve Police Officers, the program provided a great recruitment tool for University Police.  Seven of the CSO’s became police officers, three of them with the University Police by 1996.

            In the summer of 1996, University Police was moved from the division of Student Services to Finance and Administration. However, the Escort Service remained with Student Services for the following reasons: (1) it was fully funded by ASUN and Student Services; (1) the other .50 of the Director’s position was in Student Services and it would be difficult for an individual to report to two separate divisions; and (3) the overwhelming majority of people served were students, and it was believed that Student Services would continue to make it a priority for students.   The Escort Program headquarters was moved from the main police station on Evans to the police substation in the JTSU. 

Upon the move of Escort from control by University Police, the Chief  revoked the right of Escort to use the Reno Police Blue Frequency and insisted that the title of Campus Safety Officer not be used for the students.  The decision regarding the frequency was substantial and especially in the beginning significantly impacted Escort for three reasons: (1) before the transfer from Police, an agreement had been reached that Escort could still use the frequency if officers had proper training.  However, in violation of the agreement, radio privileges were revoked suddenly, with only a two day notice.  This did not give Escort time to make alternative arrangements; (2) while having access to the frequency callers talked directly to the police dispatcher, which gave them a sense of security.  With the change, they would talk directly with a student employee and at first there was a sense of insecurity and distrust of the service and (3) with the use of the police frequency, escort officers could notify University Police immediately if they observed a crime being committed or an accident. 

            Despite requests to the Chief, access was permanently denied for use of the frequency.  As a result, ASUN had to fund a new radio system with a repeater and pay for a dispatcher to process incoming phone calls and dispatch officers for the service. The total cost for the equipment was $15,000. 

            Since 1996, monumental changes have been made to improve the quality of the staff and the service to students.  The Escort Service grew from one vehicle to seven and from eight escorts per night to over 300 per night.

            In 2001-2002 the University system went through budget cuts.  The Escort Service lost half of the funding for student wages, and as a result, had to go to ASUN for financial support in order to keep the service running.  The Escort Service had to be restructured to maintain its budget.  The service radius was reduced from two miles to one mile and all convenience calls were canceled.

 

Budget History

            Below is the budget beginning with 1996 (Prior to 1996, records were maintained by CAIS). 

 State

 Non-State

 ASUN

 GSA

 Total Budget

1996

 $  25,000.00

 $   8,000.00

 $   33,000.00

1997

 $  46,923.00

 $   8,000.00

 $  16,923.00

 $   71,846.00

1998

 $  47,430.00

 $ 13,000.00

 $  40,521.00

 $ 100,951.00

1999

 $  48,850.00

 $ 13,000.00

 $  18,680.00

 $   8,882.00

 $   89,412.00

2000

 $  51,289.00

 $ 13,280.00

 $  43,856.00

 $   2,000.00

 $ 100,425.00

2001

 $  91,020.00

 $ 16,240.00

 $  53,824.00

 $ 13,343.00

 $ 184,427.00

2002

 $  99,977.00

 $ 13,000.00

 $  10,000.00      

 $ 122,977.00

2003

 $  67,565.00

 $ 13,000.00

 $  67,215.00      

 $ 147,780.00

2004

 $100,165.00

 $ 13,000.00

 $  13,122.00       

 $ 126,287.00

2005

 $100,465.00

 $ 13,000.00

 $  11,000.00      

 $ 124,465.00

 $678,684.00

$123,520.00

 $275,141.00    

 $  24,225.00

 

Escort Numbers Per Year

                        Data is available for total number of escorts for each academic year beginning with 1991.  These figures are presented below:

1991-92

  150

1998-99

 5,745

1992-93

  541

1999-00

 6,773

1993-94

  718

2000-01

29,536

1994-95

  816

2001-02

35,418

1995-96

1,329

2002-03

29,773

1996-97

2,650

2003-04

29,291

1997-98

3,914

2004-05

25,996