Campus Conservatives to patrol campus at night
The Campus Conservatives will begin random nightly patrols on campus.
Topinabee senior and Campus Conservatives spokesman Dennis Lennox II said this is in response to concerns about student safety.
"You shouldn't be afraid to walk on campus at night," Lennox said.
The main purpose of patrolling is to discourage incidents of assault and alert appropriate authorities of suspicious behavior. Each safety patrol set will walk in teams of at least two, with flashlights and personal cell phones.
"The volunteers are ready and really excited," Lennox said.
He said the patrol groups will not be acting in ways of vigilante justice.
Imlay City senior and Campus Conservatives member Anton "Nick" Campbell stresses safety as the primary focus and said the group is willing to work with other organizations on campus.
While Campbell thinks CMU is doing a great job with safety services, such as Night Rides, he said the safety patrols are just a proactive precaution to combat negative incidents.
"It's just one more thing to help," Campbell said.
CMU Police Sgt. Chris Pryor said this idea is similar to the Chip Walk Program, a previous service designed to escort students around campus from 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. seven nights a week. The program was terminated in the fall of 2002.
Night Rides, the 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. on-campus transportation service, replaced the Chip Walk Program in January 2003.
"We work together as a community," Pryor said. "There is always safety in numbers."
Lennox said the main patrol nights will be Thursday through Sunday, when students are out a night more on campus.
However, he also said schedules of the patrols will not be displayed to the public because the group does not want would-be criminals to take advantage of nights not walked by volunteers.
The safety patrol plans to provide this service until inclement weather no longer permits it.
"We want people to be involved," Lennox said.
Pryor encourages everyone to report any suspicious behavior and to look out for the well-being of others to keep campus safe.
Any crime prevention facilitated properly is good, he said.
For more information regarding CMU Police services, visit
police.cmich.edu.
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