Hidden from view, Cortney Coke parked the Ford Explorer near the intersection of Sunflower and Sunnyside roads on the University of Kansas campus.

Lights off, she sat in the darkness, waiting.

It was only a matter of minutes before a Jeep Cherokee rolled past the stop sign without coming to a complete stop.

Coke, an officer with KU’s Office of Public Safety, turned on the flashing lights and quickly pulled in behind the car. The driver turned into a parking lot. Coke followed and got out to write a ticket.

Campus traffic infractions are just part of Coke’s duties as a KU police officer. She deals with everything from sexual assault to criminal damage.

“The drunk college kids tell me they are lawyers and doctors and they know their rights,” she said laughing.

On a recent Friday night, a call of possible alcohol poisoning came over the police radio. Just 15 minutes earlier, Coke had done a walk-through on every floor of Self Hall, a co-ed freshmen dorm. She saw nothing more suspicious than a group of co-eds baking cookies. Now, she was speeding back up Daisy Hill, with lights flashing, for a possible life-threatening situation.

Coke arrived just as four Lawrence/Douglas County Fire/EMS first responders came on the scene. They found a freshman female student lying on the bathroom floor in a friend’s room.

The student had been out drinking vodka punch at a fraternity party, the friend said. She quickly became intoxicated.

As the first responders checked her vital signs, the student couldn’t hold up her head without support. She was very confused. As they prepared to take her to the hospital, she vomited and then appeared better.

Coke patiently gathered what information she could, learning the student was 18 and an underage drinker.

“I don’t want to go to the hospital,” the student said, over and over. Then, she kept asking if they were going to tell her parents.

The first responders assured her they were not going to tell her parents. Coke wouldn’t either. After all, at 18, she was an adult, and her immediate concern was the student’s welfare.

Coke also didn’t issue the student a citation. A lack of a citation is not uncommon in such situations, a public safety official said.

During the last academic year, KU Public Safety officers answered 52 calls related to possible alcohol poisoning, averaging about five a month, Deputy Chief James Anguiano said.

“Students are sometimes given amnesty when medical attention is needed,” Anguiano said. “We can’t prove where she was drinking. We are going to look at the wellness of the student first thing. We want to make sure the student is safe.”

He also wants other students to feel free to call when they think a friend is in danger. However, amnesty only goes so far. If they caught an underage student with an open container, they would issue a citation, which would be handled in the city’s municipal court.

Coke is one of 26 commissioned officers with KU Public Safety. She received her training at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center alongside officers planning to work in police departments across the state.

Inside the KU Public Safety building, 1501 Crestline Drive, it seems like the command center of a small town police department. However, Coke said this is a different kind of policing.

The age and demographics of the people they interact with each day are different.

“For us, on campus, we deal more with 18- to 23-year-olds on a day in and day out basis. We deal with juveniles on occasion, as well as older adults, but, typically, it’s the college age.”

Sometimes, she is called to investigate the smell of marijuana in dorm rooms. If marijuana is discovered in the room, it is a misdemeanor handled in municipal court

Along with her full-time job with KU, Coke, 29, is a commissioned second lieutenant and company commander with the 35th Military Police Company of the Kansas National Guard in Topeka. She is back from her first deployment to Kuwait.

But, it’s serving as campus police officer that has taught Coke patience.

After watching the first responders escort the drunken student to her dorm room, Coke is back in the Explorer. “Ten eight,” she says into the radio.

It is the signal for being back in service — for whatever else the night may bring.

KU reporter Kathy Hanks can be reached at 785-832-6388. Follow her on Twitter: @KansasJourney