When the sun sets and nightfall takes over, students like broadcast journalism sophomore Josh Frigerio feel unsafe walking around in downtown Phoenix.
While working at his internship at Fox 10 News last year, Frigerio was required to stay past 11 p.m. two nights a week.
Concerned about his safety, Frigerio said he called the safety escort services offered by the Phoenix Police department and a Downtown Phoenix Partnership group called the Copper Square Ambassadors.
Frigerio, a student at the Downtown campus, said in several instances he ran about a mile from the internship back to his residence hall to avoid danger.
“I would have to run to a lighted area just to get away,” Frigerio said, adding that one time a man followed him, asking for change.
While attempting to attain an escort every day for a week, Frigerio was told that the Copper Square Ambassador safety escort service stops running at 11 p.m. , and he was too far out of the area to receive help from the Phoenix police.
After a week’s worth of tries and only one success, Frigerio said he gave up and started taking his chances.
Since the opening of the Downtown campus in 2006, both the Phoenix Police department and the Copper Square Ambassadors have been providing downtown ASU students with a safety escort service to and from classes and around the city.
With roughly 850 students scheduled to live at Downtown residence hall Taylor Place this year, an increase of 550 from last year, some students are questioning if and how the Downtown Phoenix campus will adjust to accommodate safety.
ASU Police Cmdr. Richard Wilson said the service is primarily for those who do not feel safe walking around Phoenix in the evening.
They try to limit the service they offer to students to a designated perimeter where police officers can park.
They have made exceptions in the past, but the service mainly provides escorts between campus buildings and parking facilities, Wilson said.
“If they’re going to hit the clubs that are on Jackson Street, they’re on their own,” Wilson said. Jackson Street extends just out of the area that the Phoenix Police Department covers for ASU, he said.
An official from the Downtown Phoenix Partnership said the Copper Square Ambassadors serve a 90-block core between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and 11 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on the weekends.
Copper Square Ambassadors manager Samantha Jackson said scheduling workers outside of that time frame is not on the current agenda.
“We go to where the people are so it’s easy for us to make some changes throughout the day,” she said. “If there is an absolute need for us to be there, we staff to what the needs are.”
The Copper Square Ambassadors usually have 15 ambassadors working each day in shifts, she said.
Wilson said that one officer and three to five police aides are available in a typical shift, with numbers increasing during the evening hours.
“The staff we have is the staff we have. There is no more to be found.
If demand exceeds capacity, then people will just have to wait or find an alternative,” he said.
Reach the reporter at dbjoraas@asu.edu.
