Police Change Escort Service Pickup Rules

Escort drivers will no longer pick up students flaggin down escort cars or requesting escort service to off-campus locations, Saul L. Chafin, chief of University police, said yesterday.

The decision came in a meeting of police and escort drivers held Thursday to discuss recent complaints of unreliable escort service and police harassment of shuttle bus drivers.

The elimination of unscheduled delays caused by students who flag down escort cars and request rides to off-campus locations will greatly improve the escort service, Chafin said.

Presently, "As a result of these delays, the dispatcher may tell a student the car will be there within five minutes, and the car will arrive at the location up to 30 minutes late," Chafin added.

The measures adopted at the meeting will allow dispatchers to give students requesting an escort an accurate estimate of the escort car's arrival, Chafin said.

Nevertheless, he added, "These new procedures are not inflexible; there will always be extenuating circumstances," he said.

Chafin also said police dispatchers and supervisors at the meeting refuted shuttle bus drivers' complaints that they have been harassed by police. "Because of complaints from the public and observations by officers, some dirvers have been cautioned by police to drive at reduced speed, but nobody has been harassed," he added.