It’s official. The Bradley University Police Department has acquired a second safety cruiser.
On Thursday, Nov. 6, the two cruisers will run together for the first time from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.
The second cruiser, according to BUPD Chief Brian Joschko, was created in response to student concerns regarding delayed response times of the single cruiser.
“We have logs of when people call and when the van arrives,” Joschko said. “It’s taking a considerable amount of time from the time a person calls for a ride to the time the van actually shows up. The longer that time is, it dissuades people from calling for a ride instead of encouraging it. That’s why we wanted a second [van].”
Joschko said having a second cruiser has been the goal of the department since the program’s inception.
“We have talked about the need for a second safety cruiser since November 2012 and what that would look like,” Joschko said. “However, it really didn’t start to become concrete until this semester.”
Student feedback is responsible for the introduction of a second cruiser, according to Joschko, as the Student Safety Committee and various other students have expressed their own ideas to make BUPD escort services more conducive to student needs.
“When I speak with students…one of the things I hear a lot about is that students like the Hilltop Safety Cruiser, [but it] takes a while [to reach them],” Joschko said. “That’s a barrier for some people to use it, and we want students to be using the cruiser rather than choosing to walk alone.”
The second cruiser will only run Sundays through Wednesdays from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Thursdays through Saturdays from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Joschko said these are the times the BUPD has recorded the heaviest student call traffic and therefore the greatest need for an additional cruiser.
Currently, the safety cruiser averages 77 student calls during its daily hours of operation from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Joschko said he expects this to increase upon the activation of the second cruiser.
With a second van now available, it’s time to take the next step by hiring more drivers.
“Some of our existing personnel will pick up a couple more hours, but that’s not going to be enough to fill the full need,” Joschko said. “We are very much still in need of additional drivers.”
Applications are available at the police station in Campustown. For more information on the Hilltop Safety Cruiser, visit the University Police page on Bradley’s website.
Do you want to drive the safety cruiser?
You can if you meet these requirements:
• Junior academic status
• Valid U.S. driver’s license
• Good driving record
• Availability from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. on weekends and/or weeknights
