Police vehicles get new look
Juan Villa / The Collegian
Campus security escorts such as Ue Thao are available to take students, faculty and staff around campus
and to their vehicles. The University Police Department’s vehicles were recently renovated.
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By Megan Farrell
The Collegian
The Fresno State campus police vehicles are sporting a new look and updated equipment thanks to a grant and the Renovation Maintenance Fund.
All six of the campus police patrol cars received updated decal designs and the interiors were renovated to include new advanced communications and safety equipment.
According to Amy Armstrong, the Public Information Officer for Fresno State’s Department of Public Safety, the cars were first repainted, then the updated decals were placed on the exterior. After the exterior was redone, the cars were sent to be refitted for new advanced communications system and new safety equipment.
The Campus Police department is open Monday through Friday from 7a.m. to 5p.m., but a dispatcher is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“It’s a one-stop shop,” Armstrong said. “You can get police reports, finger printing, or get general questions answered at the police department office.”
Security Escorts are also offered 24 hours a day to anyone who requests them. The police department uses approximately 12 golf carts for the security escorts.
The campus police department has several different vehicles it uses on a regular basis.
It has two Polaris off-road vehicles, two GEM electric cars, and five “Dog Run” Red Trams.
The department fleet also includes one Ford Ranger, one flatbed stake side truck and one Mobile Communications Center.
Campus police are able to transport the communications center to events around campus using the flatbed truck. For example, if campus police will be at a football game, the truck can pull the communications center to the stadium in order for campus police officials to be closer to the event.
Other services the police department offers include battery jumps to students and faculty who have left their lights on. The department will also call tow trucks for those who have locked their keys in their cars.
“We cannot break into the car,” Armstrong said. “But we can call a tow truck.”
University Police Department also plans to shuttle students around campus on the red trams. In a couple of months it hopes to have shuttle routes determined, with a possible route that would take students from the dorms to the Student Recreation Center. For now, Armstrong said the trams are only being used for construction purposes.
The University Police Department also advises students to dial the department’s police dispatch line rather than 911 when dialing for police assistance on campus from a cell phone. Since emergency 911 phone calls from cell phones are answered by the California Highway Patrol, campus police advises that dialing the campus dispatch line will connect callers on campus to assistance in a much closer proximity. The number is 278-8400.
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