Safety issues don’t end after freshman year.

That’s why University Police Department officers are necessary in every upperclassman residence halls.

The University is evaluating its residence hall security strategy and is posting UPD officers in several residence halls to curtail “piggybacking” – when someone follows an access-holding student into a building. This step is an important one for student safety, and to crack down on this issue, UPD officers should require outsiders to be escorted into buildings by the residents they are visiting.

A man without access allegedly trailed a student into City Hall and attempted to assault her last month. This UPD crackdown on piggybacking can stem these attempts in the future and is an appropriate response to these sorts of situations.

Students of course will be a bit inconvenienced because they will be required to retrieve the people waiting for them. But this is a minor hindrance in the grand scheme of things; it could help prevent another dangerous occurrence from happening on campus. Students escorting guests into buildings will ensure that those entering residence halls should indeed be there.

UPD officers don’t need to be in all residence halls 24/7. But posting a few in upperclassman buildings at night might help stem piggybacking at a time when the most students are flooding into residence halls.

At the end of the day, student safety is a priority. As the University evaluates how to best go about improving student safety, it should strongly consider keeping UPD officers in residence halls at night and require that students escort visitors to their rooms.