University students, never fear: The Yellow Jackets are here. A few are, anyway.
A volunteer patrol group aimed at making campus safer, the Yellow Jackets patrolled the area for the first time Monday night. But a lack of turnout may stop the group from keeping the University as safe as organizers would like.
“Everyone we’ve talked to seems to think that it’s a good idea,” student coordinator Meghan Madden said. “A lot of people just don’t know about it yet.”
Few people have been trained as Yellow Jackets so far. They each will devote at least two hours a week to patrolling campus armed only with flashlights, two-way radios and bright yellow jackets. The patrols will take place every night between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m.
The first patrol was mostly uneventful. The jackets drew stares from students walking through campus and a few off-the-cuff remarks.
“There goes the safety patrol,” quipped one student.
Another student burst out laughing when she saw the patrollers.
Volunteers aren’t allowed to confront anyone or attempt to stop a crime. If they see anything suspicious, they will radio the Department of Public Safety and request assistance.
“Safety is No. 1 here. We want everyone to be as absolutely safe as they can be,” said Royce Myers, DPS Officer and Yellow Jackets coordinator, in a Sunday training session. “If someone runs, don’t take after them, but you can follow them,” he advised the trainees.
DPS Officer and Yellow Jacket program coordinator Royce Myers runs volunteers through a brief introduction Sunday evening.
According to the bright yellow training manual, the Yellow Jacket program has two main goals: Report and observe suspicious or criminal activity and safety hazards, and provide safety escorts to students and staff on campus.
Officials have been quick to point out the role of the volunteers is not to be Big Brother.
“The intent of this is to provide visibility,” DPS spokesman Tom Hicks said. “We’re not necessarily training the Yellow Jackets to look around for people with a beer or open container.”
While volunteers probably won’t be calling for backup if they spot a low-level infraction such as students skateboarding on campus, Yellow Jackets might relay accounts of students smoking marijuana.
“It’s probably something we’d report,” Madden said.
The program is in its test phase right now. Eventually project organizers hope for as many as 168 people, which would allow the group to conduct three two-hour patrols every night of the week, with two pairs of volunteers in each patrol. But with only 15 people for spring term, Yellow Jackets are already planning their revised hours.
“We’ll have fewer shifts, fewer days and less pairs out,” said Madden, who plans to devote six hours a week to the project. “It’s a pilot program, definitely.”
Volunteer and faculty member Anne Leavitt, associate vice president for Student Affairs, said she thinks more students and staff will participate in the program once they see the highly visible patrols.
“Ideally, the students themselves ought to be the patrol,” Leavitt said. “But I think more staff ought to do this.”
E-mail reporter Brook Reinhard
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