The University Police Department held Blue and You outside the Pennington Student Activity Center on Aug. 17. At the event, students interacted with university police who handed out water bottles and business cards. The department offers several services from escorts to medical emergencies. Riana Braselman/The Lion’s Roar
The University Police Department engaged with students by handing out water bottles and informational business cards. On Aug. 17, UPD hosted Blue and You, designed to allow students to interact one-on-one with a university police officer in a non-emergency situation.
“Most students that have interacted out here yesterday or today were great,” said police lieutenant Patrick Gipson. “They talked with us. They asked questions. We helped students find their classes. We were able to give them information about services that our department offers to them. It’s a very positive event.”
The Division for Student Affairs’ leadership ambassadors set up a tent outside the Pennington Student Activity Center, offering water bottles and directions to passing students. Gipson was representing the UPD and handing out business cards to students on their way to class. The card provided contact information for the UPD in a form Gipson feels is easy for students to refer to and carry around with them for whenever they need it.
“We’ve developed the cards because it’s smaller and more portable,” said Gipson. “It’s easier to hand a student a business card that has information than to hand them a brochure or something that takes up a lot of space that might just get shuffled off. It’s a little bit more of a quick interaction so you’re not holding a student up, so they’re still going to class. You’re not stopping them. You’re not taking time. You’re just ‘Here you go. As you’re going to class, take this.’ We have the opportunity to read it over, so you’ll have information about what you might need in case there’s an emergency.”
Many students were given contact information for the department via the business cards. Scott Callais, a freshman nursing major expressed his perspective as a student seeing a UPD officer interacting with his peers.
“It’s good that they’re here,” said Callais. “They’re reaching out, trying to show that they’re with us, they’re here to help us, and do whatever they can to support while we’re here to feel safe and help us find our way around. It’s good support.”
The UPD provides services many new or experienced students may not commonly know about.
“We’ll do after-hours escorts for students,” said Gipson. “We’ll help with jump-starts with students’ cars. We do educational programs around campus. That’s something many students will see, officers arriving at buildings or in classrooms, and they immediately wonder, ‘Who’s in trouble?’ or, ‘What happened? What’s wrong?’ We want them to understand just because you see a police officer doesn’t mean someone’s in trouble. We also help with medical emergencies. If a student has a medical issue, they can contact us, and we will get a medical service to them. Many students don’t know that. They’re not sure who to call. They know if there’s a crime to call the police, but they don’t understand that there’s a medical emergency to call the police department, and we’ll have somebody on the way.”
Gipson feels students may have the misconception that the UPD’s only job is to respond to crime when he feels the more important role is preventing crime before it happens.
“Most everybody thinks about the police department as somebody you call when something bad happens,” said Gipson. “They seldom realize that the police department is here to try to keep those bad things from happening in the first place.”
Gipson’s favorite part about being out at the event was interacting with the students.
“Events like Blue and You give us that opportunity to meet with students face-to-face in a non-emergency setting so they can understand we’re not here just to react to bad things,” said Gipson. “We’re here to try and stop them. We’re here for students wherever they need us. If they need us to help them find their class, ask a police officer to help you find a class. If you need someone to just give you some guidance about a law you heard about or about a rule that you’re confused about, ask a police officer.”