The University of Houston Police Department hires Cougar Patrol student workers as an additional set of "eyes and ears" for trained officers.
"They carry a police radio that goes directly to police dispatcher," Lieutenant Richard Storemski said. "The officer hears what the Cougar Patrol member says to the dispatcher; it’s heard by all officers, so there is no need to get involved."
UHPD officers respond to a Cougar Patrol call for help within "one or two minutes," Storemski said.
The paid, part-time work positions do not receive the same response training as officers, so UHPD policy forbids Cougar Patrol workers from getting involved in any confrontation on campus, from arguments to life-or-death situations.
Storemski said the student workers escort students throughout campus and perform motor assists, which entail battery boosts, changing tires and helping students who have been locked out of their cars. If an area receives lots of visitors or traffic, UHPD will assign additional Cougar Patrol workers to survey the area on foot patrols.
In addition to surveying the campus and performing motor assists, Cougar Patrol workers help with internal duties, such as filing, running errands and mail delivery.
Storemski said that, as a student, the opportunity to enlist as a student assistant stuck out from other work-study opportunities. After four years as a student assistant, Storemski enrolled in the police academy, was promoted to lieutenant and currently has his own Cougar Patrol assistant, who helps him clean and maintain UHPD’s fleet of police cars by washing cars, keeping track of car activity in the state mileage books and maintaining various vehicle-related records.
Another Cougar Patrol member helps the UHPD Personnel Lieutenant with security sensitive filing.
Cougar Patrol members can be seen surveying the campus in their uniform of a red baseball cap with the Cougar Patrol logo, tennis shoes, jeans or shorts and bright red T-shirts with the Cougar Patrol logo. Members wear an identification badge with their name and picture. During the winter, Cougar Patrol members may don a red button-up wind-breaker. The red uniform distinguishes student workers from trained officers.
Cougar Patrol members always carry a radio with a direct link to the police dispatch, but do not carry guns or ride UHPD bicycles.
The number of Cougar Patrol students fluctuates semester to semester, depending on whether students change jobs, leave to focus on classes or lose the work-study grants that allow them to work with UHPD.
Demands for Cougar Patrol workers have evolved over time, Storemski said. Cougar Patrol may cease helping students who have been locked out of their cars because "Slim Jim" lockout tools cause some modern cars to deploy their side airbags. However, Storemski recalls performing timeless errands such as delivering mail during his first years as a student worker and continues to see Cougar Patrol members assist with department "odds and ends."
When asked about opportunities for entering the law enforcement service from Cougar Patrol, Storemski recommended Cougar Patrol as a convenient, on-campus location for student workers who wanted to get involved with their community.
"You’re getting to know the community and the campus," Storemski said.
For more information about Cougar Patrol, visit www.uh.edu/police/cougarpatrol.html.
