Armed with pepper spray, Joseph Coe walks across a dark,
deserted campus and stays out past 1 a.m. on school nights for his
job ““ a job that he loves.
As part of a squad of community service officers, Coe, a
fourth-year civil engineering student, is paid for duties ranging
from patrolling campus buildings in the daytime to working
nighttime shifts during which CSOs accompany students who feel
uncomfortable walking from one part of campus to another alone.
As escorts, CSOs are encouraged to strike up conversation to
reduce the awkwardness that walking at night with a stranger might
entail, said CSO Ed Martinez, a third-year English and math
student.
“We want to make them comfortable ““ they might be
talkative, or they might not. It’d just be really weird to
walk with people and be silent,” he said. “Ask them how
their day was … just small talk.”
Matt Ellis, assistant manager of the university police CSO
program said nightly requests for escorts average in the thirties,
but the number of calls depends on the night.
Though the escort service is the most visible CSO service, Ellis
said students can also utilize the program’s free evening van
routes which provide transportation between campus buildings,
on-campus housing and adjacent residential areas.
CSOs also act as a deterrent to crime and provide information
for tourists, Ellis added. CSOs don’t intervene when
incidents arise, but they do act as liaisons to emergency
services.
Coe said he enjoys the freedom on the job that being a CSO
allows ““ something that students working other campus jobs
don’t always have.
“They give the responsibility to you, and you’re
assumed to be there and to take on the responsibility,” Coe
said. “You don’t have anybody hounding on
you.”
Ellis said while many CSOs clock a considerable number of hours
at work, with some working overtime, most have little trouble
maintaining their desired levels of academic achievement.
Both Coe and Martinez said their responsibilities as CSOs do not
impede their study time.
Martinez, who worked about 25 hours a week last quarter, added
that being a CSO is an improvement over his last job, where he
worked 40-hour weeks.
“Do your rounds, and you could take the books and read a
little bit. It’s the only job where you can actually work
more during finals,” he said.
Schedules are made based on seniority, and Coe, who worked
between 25 and 30 hours per week last quarter, said CSOs who stay
with the program are able to sign up for good hours ““ ones
that don’t compete with other commitments.
Though only 21 of the 61 active CSOs this summer are women and
the program is generally a male-dominated one, Ellis said it is in
no way a male-oriented job.
“I’m sure there is the perception because we do
escorts that females are not encouraged to apply … we try to
discourage that idea,” he said. “There’s no
reason why anybody with a brain and the ability to use a radio
can’t be a CSO.”
“Many of our best CSOs are, indeed, women,” he
added.
Becoming a CSO is a three-step process, Ellis said.
Candidates’ applications are rated based on criteria
including prior work experience and how much time they have left at
the university.
Applicants who qualify to be CSOs go through 45-minute
interviews in which they are asked questions including
hypotheticals about incidents that could arise on the job.
Those who then pass an extensive background check are accepted
into the program.
Training, which involves classes and one-on-one sessions with
field training officers who take trainees on whole shifts, is the
hardest part of becoming a CSO, Coe said.
“The first night, you’re overwhelmed with a lot of
information … that first night I was really nervous,” he
said.
With training now behind him, Coe said the program has helped
him find his niche on a campus that seems a lot smaller since he
became a CSO.
“My favorite part would have to be the camaraderie of the
program. Everyone works and it’s kind of cool how you form
all these friendships,” he said.
To request a CSO escort, dial 310-794-WALK.