COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Now that college students are back in Aggieland, the workload for the local bike patrol team is up.
The College Station tourism entertainment policing unit, or CSTEP, has one focus.
“Our primary responsibility is just the safety and security of the north gate district and entertainment venues across the city,” said Andrew Humes, College Station police officer in CSTEP unit.
Students who enjoy their nights out on the town appreciate what they do.
“Thank you for your service, you guys are the best,” said Ethan Flores, Texas A&M Student.
According to College Station PD, the department of justice says the top way to minimize assaults in or around bars is tackling these three main points.
“Three things that really cause issues up here are underage drinking, over serving, and overcrowding of bars,” Officer Humes explained.
Other students say as a female there’s a comfort level with their presence at arm's reach.
“We’ve run into some people that aren't the nicest to women so it’s kind of nice to know that we have someone right there to look to,” said Crystal Raun, Texas A&M student.
While safety is a main priority these officers can utilize a unique tactic to accomplish those goals.
“We do a lot of humanizing of the uniform, especially on a bicycle folks are very likely going to come up and talk to you,” Humes shared.
Keeping students safe throughout their nightlife experience is important. This football season, officer Humes expects his workload to increase tremendously as the excitement for game days returns.
“One of the things you have to think about is in tourism, students are actually a form of tourism. They actually come up here and do a lot of things tourists do,” said Humes.
After the start of the unit in 2013 about four years later they added personnel to their team, and they hope they can continue to do so as the student population increases.
”We also have bike medics that come up here with us from the fire department, so for the same reason, they can negotiate getting through a crowded area. Areas where the traffic could be very tight. We can't get an ambulance, we can't get a police car, but we can get a bicycle and care for people,” Officer Humes explained.