It is early evening in late February on the stoop of Robie-Andrews Hall on the Gorham Campus. A light snow is falling, adding to the foot of accumulation on the ground. A police officer walks up the stairs to the entrance. A girl emerges from the entrance with keys in her hand, and a full laundry basket. The officer, in the police SUV, shuttles the girl to her car in Lot G-20 across campus.
It’s these abuses of the police escort service that have led to an overhaul of the unwritten policy which was in place in the previous years.
“There was no written policy before . [And] especially last year, there were problems with abuse of the policy,” said Lisa Beecher, chief of USM Police Department.
Students often called for escorts when it was cold outside and they had to park in freshman parking lots located on the edge of campus.
“People were calling for things that didn’t necessitate escorts,” Beecher said.
According to the new safety escort service policy when a person requests an escort the police will evaluate the situation prior to calling for the escort. Most escorts available to students will be walking escorts, either by a public safety assistant or uniformed officer. The new policy will be available to all students.
According to the policy, all calls for the service will be prioritized, but the escort will arrive within 10 to 15 minutes. The most significant change is that the escort will be on foot. “It tends to weed out the requests that are not legitimate safety issues,” Beecher said.
Walking escorts are established to leave police vehicles free in case there are other police calls. But in some cases a vehicle will be used for the escort, Beecher said.
According to the new escort policy, students will be discouraged from asking for an escort if it is due to the weather or parking issues on campus.
Beecher said students should call for an escort if they feel they have a safety concern or are unable to walk.
“But every situation is different,” she said.