Eyes, Ears, and More?

The University City District's "Safety Ambassadors" work to improve the quality of life in the area they patrol. You might have seen Rosalyn Lee walking around campus recently in her bright yellow jacket. You may even have been one of the students who asked her for directions or took comfort in her presence. And you'd be justified in wondering how you could have failed to notice Lee and her conspicuously dressed companions in the area before -- she and the other 27 "Safety Ambassadors" only began working a few weeks ago. The safety ambassador program is the major arm of the University City District, a recently formed organization attempting to improve the quality of life in the University City area. The UCD is chaired by Executive Vice President John Fry, and its board of directors includes 17 community, business and institutional leaders. Equipped with two-way radios linking them to a dispatcher -- although not to the police -- the ambassadors fulfill a variety of duties ranging from giving directions or helping a homeless person make it to a shelter, to alerting police about a crime. The ambassadors -- whose ranks will swell to 40 by the end of next month -- patrol the area bordered by 30th Street to the east; 50th Street to the west; Market and Spring Garden streets and Powelton Avenue to the north; and Center City Boulevard and University and Woodland avenues to the south. Lee and co-workers Jamie Gaymon and Gary Russell stressed that in addition to being eyes and ears for police, their presence helps reassure community members and business owners. "A lot of people out there are in fear," Lee said. "They're thankful that we're out there." Russell, a military police officer for three years, explained that the ambassadors' duties "vary each day," but stressed that "the biggest part is definitely hospitality." UCD Executive Director Paul Steinke added that the most important qualities for ambassadors is that they be "outgoing and gregarious, personable and like people." Gaymon, who worked for Spectaguard before joining the UCD, also spoke of the importance of being people-oriented, and stressed the "excitement" she feels each day at the opportunity to help people. And although the average day on the job consists mostly of walking around and speaking to community members, the ambassadors never know what they'll run into. For example, when demonstrators lined part of Chestnut Avenue to protest Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit last week, an unoccupied police car blocking the street started rolling backwards. The police car hit a truck in the intersection and was heading towards the demonstrators when a police officer tried to get in the car and stop it. The officer was struck by the car's open door, but Safety Ambassador Joseph McCue got into the car and hit the brake just before the car jumped the curb, Steinke said.