Many students only associate Commuter Services and U police with tickets. The fact that there are many functions these departments fulfill, including helping students with car trouble, is less commonly known.
If a student locks keys in a car or has a dead battery, Commuter Services can dispatch an officer to provide assistance to that student anywhere on campus.
“The first thing the student should do is call security,” said Jon Teerlink, Commuter Services administrative assistant.
Dialing 585-COPS from any phone will put a student in contact with a public safety dispatcher.
Then an officer is sent to the location of the student and brings any necessary equipment, Teerlink said.
An officer can arrive in around three minutes but could take up to 20 minutes, depending on the officer’s location. “The dispatcher will tell the student the wait time,” said Sgt. Lynn Rohland, public information officer for U police.
The necessary equipment varies according to the reported problem and can range from a Slim Jim, used to open a locked car to a jumper to restart a dead battery.
“I think that’s great-especially on (stormy) days like today,” said Evan Castro, senior in health promotion, upon learning of these services.
Charging batteries in cold weather is common because the lower temperatures can cause the charge capacity of a battery to decrease, causing the battery to lose charge more quickly that it normally would, Rohland said.
There have been car “problems at least twice a week” in the annex lot, Teerlink said, so students who park there should be aware that these services exist.
U police also provide an “After Dark Escort Service” to anywhere on campus.
This service allows U students and faculty to contact the police and have an officer escort the person to his or her vehicle, “or from the library back up to the dorms if someone is studying late,” Rohland said.
All U police services are available year-round and are available even when school is not in session.