Throughout the day, CSOs patrol the campus and Isla Vista communities fulfilling various duties that help encourage public safety. Bicycle duty is a major part of the Community Service Organization. It is comprised of bicycle education, tagging, moving, and impounding bicycles. CSOs maintain visibility on campus, both on foot and on bike, in order to educate the community. and make themselves available as a resource.
Some of the services CSOs provide for the Community
- Personal Safety Escorts
- Windows Security
- Door Checks
- Safety Stations in Isla Vista
- Lagoon Sweeps
- Emergency Phones Checks
- Courtesy Bicycle Lock Cuts
- Maintain Quiet Hours
CSO Duties Day & Evening Patrols
During the day and evening, there are CSOs constantly patrolling campus. Their duties include campus patrol, safety escorts, and overall campus safety.
On & Off Graves
Every day, 365 days a year, there are CSOs patrolling on campus housing as well as university owned off campus housing, which are mainly located in Isla Vista.
When a CSO is on patrol, there are a couple of main objectives.
- Prevention: through high visibility and awareness.
- Priorities: personal safety escorts, and security of property. During the day and evening patrols, CSOs ride and walk throughout campus, performing different duties.
The Red Emergency Phones are located in almost every building on campus, generally found near the exterior and interior main entrance.
Each elevator on campus has an emergency phone inside it. The phones are used for emergencies and for requesting safety escorts.
Lock Cuts are a nice service to use if you have lost your lock key, the lock is too rusted to open, or you just plain forgot the lock combination. Courtesy lock cuts are FREE. The bicycle must be on university-owned property and must be registered prior to a lock cut. You must have a valid Photo ID and have proof of ownership.
Lagoon Sweeping is one way for CSOs to enjoy the Santa Barbara weather, which is to patrol the trail along Campus Point and the Dips. This is to maintain visibility all over campus and to check for suspicious circumstances. Most of the time, CSO observe a few surfers and a couple of abandoned bicycles.
Note: AGE's (Aid in Gaining Entry) are now performed by Police Officers instead of CSO's. AGE's are a service for people who have locked their keys in a room or office and have no other way to gain entry. This is a courtesy service and you must have a legitimate reason for an AGE. In order to receive an AGE, you must call the Police Dispatcher and present a valid Photo ID to the Police Officer. No one may enter another person's office or room without proof of permission from the owner.
Throughout the night and early morning CSOs patrol
On Graves are night time patrols of the on-campus Residential Halls as well as the dining commons and other university owned property. CSOs help provide a secured environment by checking all the exterior doors to ensure that they are locked and not propped.
CSOs not only walk through the Res Halls, but also ride around them to check the doors.
Some of the places On Grave CSOs patrol:
- Anacapa
- Santa Cruz
- Santa Rosa
- UCEN
- San Nicolas
- San Miguel
- San Rafael
- Manzanita
- Ortega Dining Commons
- Carrillo Dining Commons
- De La Guerra Dining Commons
Off-Graves patrol the university owned off-campus family student housing and the single student housing.
You will usually see the off-gravers traveling through Isla Vista, racing to a safety escort, or just heading towards Westgate.
CSOs doing off-graves secure laundry room doors, provide safety escorts, and lock up certain buildings after hours.
Some of the off-campus housing that the CSOs patrol at night are:
- El Dorado
- Westgate
- Storke Campus
- West Campus
- Santa Ynez
- Santa Catalina
- Deveraux
If you are in the Res Halls late in the evening, do not hesitate to stop a CSO and ask questions, or see how things are going. They will be more than happy to talk to you.