An up close and personal look at SNAP

“1-35, we’ve got a 10-59 at Bell times one,” the radio buzzes.

We head out — 1-35 is our number.

My partner, S.N.A.P. officer Jordan Brown, answers the call, “10-4.”

We’re off, headed to Bell Hall. During S.N.A.P. training, the student patrol learns police scanner codes like 10-59, which means an escort is needed, and 10-4 meaning understood.

Brown, a senior criminal justice major, has been a S.N.A.P. officer since Spring 2009.

Drake Simons | gcsunade.com

Kenneth Morris, a public administration graduate student and S.N.A.P. officer, escorts Nathan Dickens, a senior outdoor education major. S.N.A.P. has escorted over 5,500 students so far this semester, the most since it’s inception.

Since he started, he has had his fair share of interesting encounters including witnessing break-ups, having guys jump off the golf cart while in motion and escorting women barely sober enough to stay on the cart.

We arrive at Bell Hall, waiting to see what the next story will be. A woman gets in the cart and we pull out a clipboard to record the ride. We write the time, number of passengers, location and destination. From the front steps two other students ask where we’re headed.

“Parkhurst (Hall),” I reply.

“So are we,” they say as they clamber into the back seat.

The S.N.A.P. carts can hold four passengers, one up front and three in the back. But three in the back is a squeeze.

***

We haven’t had a call in a little while so we park in an area with heavier foot traffic.

“When we aren’t responding to calls, I’ll sit at what we call a ‘hot spot,’” Brown said. “Occasionally if I see somebody walking alone by themselves I’ll pull over and ask if they need a ride, but usually I’ll wait for somebody to ask.”

As of 3 a.m. Oct. 22, S.N.A.P. had escorted 5,572 students this semester, 2,415 of these were in responses to a call. And dispatcher Matt Bolden says there could be close to 75 calls on an average Thursday night.

However, the job sometimes is a lonely one. We sit and wait by the reflection pond for a call or a passerby who needs a ride.

Two guys walk up and ask for a ride. They jokingly offer us Cheez-Its as a tip.

We drive by Herty Hall and a group of students yell “S.N.A.P, we love you,” from the front steps. S.N.A.P. is increasing in popularity; according to this year’s MAP-Works survey, 94 percent of incoming freshmen know about S.N.A.P and its services.

“For the sophomores and freshmen at Georgia College, (S.N.A.P.’s) just part of their college experience,” Brown said.

We head back to the “hot spot” and two guys and a girl approach us.

“Are you guys waiting on anybody?” they ask.

“Nope, you need a ride?” Brown says, “Hop in.”

“This thing has a horn!” the passengers yell.

Throughout the night we see where the best parties are.  But we never press the riders with questions.

We just say, “Hey, where are you headed?”

Later, we will be swarmed with calls. The Thursday night rush starts during the 11:30 a.m. to 3 a.m. shift.

“When it starts getting really backed up then we have to start giving people numbers,” Bolden said. “Because you get people in the same location and they’ll start saying ‘I was first, I was first,’ and it could get to be a big mess.”

We get another call to pick up a group of girls from The Grove.

Brown, along with the other six paid officers usually works two nights a week. Typically, two S.N.A.P. officers are on duty per shift.

After about 10 minutes the girls never show. Brown considers this one downside to the job.

“We have to rely on other people to be where they say they’re going to be,” Brown said.

We keep driving and pass a large group of female students singing and dancing as they head downtown.

“S.N.A.P.!” we hear one yell. “Can you just take us to my car in the gravel lot right there, I just don’t want to mess up my shoes.”

We picked up the two girls and dropped them off at their car.

We continue driving. We pass the Health Science Building and a guy runs out the back door.

“You guys here for the party?” He asks.

“No man, not tonight,” Brown says.

“1-35” the radio buzzes. We are back on the road.

Posted by Katelyn Hebert on Nov 11 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.