UI safe walk, existing before Bruce Lovell, director of security and manager of campus security, had first started working at the University of Idaho, safe walk has made students feel safer on campus.
Apart of the Office of Public Safety and Security, VandalCARE Team helps create a secure atmosphere on the Moscow campus.
The team, an interdisciplinary group collaborating between campus departments helps faculty, staff and distressed individuals feel safe, according to VandalCARE Team’s website. Coming together across campus and functioning as part of the Division of Student Affairs, the team meets yearly to address concerns.
The safe walk, provided by the Campus Security Team on the Moscow campus, offers an escort to any destination around the university. Available year round, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, the service is free and a call away. UI students, faculty, employees and visitors can use this safe walk. Security officers will meet anyone anywhere with no questions asked.
“So, people that want to safe walk, they call into security staff and tell them where they need to escort, essentially from then security shows up and walks them to a destination,” Lovell said.
Those who need the service can call (208)8585-7054 or (208)874-7550. Both numbers will reach Campus Security directly and if unanswered, they will give a call back.
With the pandemic in place, the security team will still send officers and respond to those in need of the service. Not a lot has changed, Lovell said, officers will maintain a six-foot social distance and wear a mask.
During the year the service will see more requests with more talk around campus.
“Last year during the scare when everyone was talking about the white vans, we got more calls,” Lovell said.
Outside of that specific situation, the service’s usage remains stable.
When the safe walk was first suggested, it was an internal and external decision. An important element of safe walk is that students know that the resource is available.
Emily Pearce can be reached at [email protected].