Women and men, students and teachers accompany his colleagues, says Benjamin Schlosser from the WIS security service. People who have to do things on the campus of the University of Augsburg can, for example, be picked up by the library – in the evening, when it’s dark, they accompany them Security guards guide you to your bike, car or tram. “The offer has been well received,” says Schlosser. And it is by no means a service that is only offered in Augsburg, but also by many other universities and now more and more companies throughout Germany.
Ten years ago there were hardly any such services, not even at his company. It’s now a trend, says WIS Managing Director Jerome Johl. Whether at the universities in Cologne or Mainz or at a bank in Frankfurt. “Our customers say we pay for the security service anyway, so our employees can use it too.”
For students at universities that do not offer such a service, there are now other ways to go home without fear: For example, with call services, you can at least talk to people on the phone and feel safer. Or with apps. The University of Passau recently issued a statement stating that the police and university are stepping up joint security measures and taking on additional tours, for example on campus. The subjective sense of security has changed, says Johl.
The comparatively extensive escort service at the University of Augsburg is not an invention of the security company commissioned there. The offer was started in 2004 as an additional task of the student security service set up in the university library in 1998. At that time there was a physical attack on a student in the library, says director Sabine Fuhrmann-Wagner. Initially, the offer included exclusively the accompaniment of female assistants in the counter service after work, for example to the tram or to the parking lot. Later, library users were also allowed to use the escort service.
In 2019, the university commissioned the security company with the escort service. “We have several employees on site anyway, so the escort service costs the university and the students nothing,” says Johl. Anyone on the university campus can request the escort service by telephone during the security hours of the university library, approximately Monday to Saturday until midnight and on Sunday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. An employee picks up the caller and identifies himself with his uniform and ID. “The escort service is particularly popular in the winter months,” says Fuhrmann-Wagner. Benjamin Schlosser from the WIS security service estimates that around ten people a week take advantage of the offer
Especially women use the offer
Men, but especially women, want to be accompanied in Augsburg. Some universities set up emergency telephones years ago, and many now regularly take care of better lighting of squares and paths, setting up women’s parking spaces or women’s meeting points. If all of this is not enough for you, you can activate friends who can use the app to watch your way home and intervene if something happens. Phones that go home are called call services if a friend isn’t available: those who make calls, even if they are talking to strangers, feel safer. A nice conversation also shortens the running time. The police welcome such initiatives.
Jerome Johl believes that more and more security companies will offer escort services in the future. Normally, his employees are hardly noticed on a campus or in companies. The security guards are on site anyway, but security technology has now made their work easier, so they have more time. “And for us, such a service has the advantage that our work is perceived and valued more.”