Not even the ASUA Escort Service is immune

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat

A couple of weeks ago, a student was robbed at knife point around 8 p.m. and his wallet was stolen. Male or female, day or night, it does happen.

We run the ASUA Escort Service. We read Police Beat religiously. We preach to all we see about the importance of being safe. We spend hours upon hours a week doing everything within our power and restricted budget to keep this campus as safe as possible.

It's very easy to become complacent, though.

We and our staff took our personal safety for granted. We walked home or to our cars alone at night. We had people out patrolling the campus on foot, occasionally by themselves because they didn't want to walk with anyone else. We never worried about people being at the garage by themselves. After all, the garage is right next to UAPD. Besides, all of our employees have mag-lites, radios and nifty uniforms to keep them safe. In more than two years of crusading for campus safety, we had begun to neglect our own.

Last Wednesday, we paid the price of our complacency. One of our female employees was waiting alone by motor pool for the other golf cart driver to arrive. While she was waiting, a man grabbed her. She was able to fight him off and locked herself into motor pool. She was unhurt, but obviously very frightened by the entire experience.

After this event, we had to take a very serious look at the way we operate. We could no longer allow people to be alone on duty. We could no longer allow people to return vehicles alone. We could no longer allow people to walk home alone at night.

It had happened to other students on campus. Finally, we had to realize that it could happen to us as well.

Part of the message is clear. Don't walk alone at night. We operate Sunday through Thursday, and only from 6 p.m. to 12:55 a.m. During those hours, we will take you where you need to go so that you don't have to walk alone at night. Just call 621-SAFE.

This is not just some advertisement for the Escort Service. There are 168 hours in a week, and we are can only be open 35 of them.

So please, learn from our mistakes. Never walk alone at night if you can avoid it. Walk only in well-lighted areas and where you can see other people. Never go to an ATM at night by yourself.

But crime doesn't only happen at night. People have been attacked during the daytime as well. Don't let the sun mislead you into a false sense of security. Always be aware of your surroundings. Try to stay where you can see other people at all times. And don't just worry about your own safety. If you see someone who looks like they are in trouble, see if they need help. One person trying to keep him or herself safe is not nearly as effective as 30,000 people trying to keep each other safe.

The University of Arizona boasts a fairly safe campus. For the most part, crime is low, and is usually limited to things like bicycle theft. But please don't let yourself grow careless. Always use common sense. Walk with someone else whenever you can. Do everything you can to protect yourselves.

The 19 of us at the ASUA Escort Service will do all we can to protect you when we can. When we can't, please do everything you can to protect each other. Don't let yourself become a statistic, or just another three inches in Police Beat. Don't let it happen to you.

Christina M. Mosher is the director of the ASUA Escort Service and Rachel E. Reinhart is the Assistant Director.