The VCU Escort Service is composed of student volunteer who may (depending on availability and location of the requestor(s)'s destination) drive VCU owned and marked vehicles. If vehicles are not available or considered practicable the volunteer escorts, while wearing identifying jackets or safety vests, may merely accompany the requestor(s) to their destination. The student volunteers are, per VCU policy, unarmed with anything more useful than a flashlight and often they do not even have that with them. They may or may not have two-way radios, again depending on availability and the volunteer's ability to remember to take one with them.
In other words, the VCU Escort Service provides the possibility of additional victims and a getaway vehicle to any armed robber, and perhaps a radio tuned to the VCU Police frequency.
The presence of additional bodies may dissuade less-committed miscreants but for the truely committed they merely enlarge the potential profit of the crime.
Regarding the apparent delay between the robbery event and its being reported, I would remind folks that we are dealing with college students who have an extremely strong indoctrination in sharing their feelings, seeking possible action options from peers, and processing the pro and con consequences of any course of action before actually implementing it. That they were able to complete this process between almost 6 AM and mid-afternoon suggests they either took some shortcuts or were in fact skilled in the procedure. I support the former rather than the latter.
stay safe.
