Penn Police are working to make sure taking tests and writing papers are the worst challenges students face during exam week.
Patrol Captain Joseph Fischer said that police are taking several steps to ensure that students can study late at night at various buildings around campus without compromising their safety.
Police will begin implementing a "safe corridor" program, which will concentrate officers and security guards on Locust Walk.
Starting as early as 3 p.m. during reading days and finals week, Penn Police will position officers along Locust Walk from 34th to 40th streets. West of campus, police will continue to have an increased presence along Locust Street.
"As far as deployment is concerned," Fischer said, "we are going to be more concentrated on the core of campus."
He recommends that students who live west of 40th Street travel as far as possible along Locust Street, then diverge to reach their residences.
Concentrating officers along the campus' main artery will not decrease safety in other areas, Fischer said, adding that police will work overtime to ensure complete coverage.
College junior Katie Keate lives off campus at 40th and Pine streets, and said she does not really use Locust Walk when heading to and from campus study locations.
She does, however, think that the program will be useful for those who live closer to Locust.
"I walk down Spruce Street more," Keate said. "But for people who live on Locust or for freshmen coming from the Quad, it would be useful."
In addition to the increased police presence around Locust, the Division of Public Safety is heavily promoting the use of walking escorts and transit services, including the new Campus Loop van.
Even if students do not call 898-WALK for an escort, extra security guards will wait near libraries and other popular study locations and offer to escort students to their back to their homes.
"Students should also feel free to ask any security guard or police officer for an escort," Fischer said.
Even if they cannot walk with a student, guards and officers can summon an escort by radio.
The DPS has seen a tremendous increase in the use of walking escorts in recent months, and Fischer hopes that this trend will continue.
"We really want people to take advantage of it," he said. "If you're leaving a library or University building from the early evening throughout the night, call for an escort."
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