With the ideal of students contributing to the overall safety of the Northern Illinois University campus, the NIU Department of Public Safety instituted the Huskie Student Patrol in 1996. The Huskie Student Patrol works weeknights, from the hours of 6 pm to 2 am, and is operated by student employees organized into teams and zones. Members, working out of the Department of Public Safety facility, are supplied for duty with radios carrying both their own service channel and the University Police channel for instant communication. The members are also distinctly attired as they make their rounds. During their rounds, they routinely test the emergency call boxes on campus and do surveys of the exterior lighting on a regular basis.

The Huskie Student Patrol provides a "Walk Safe" service to those who do not wish to walk alone during those hours. A requester needs only call 753-9658 during the hours of operation, give the necessary information to the Huskie Student Patrol dispatcher, and a "Walk Safe" escort to their destination will be arranged.

Additionally, the Huskie Student Patrol provides up to thirty sets of extra eyes for the NIU Department of Public Safety. In the last few years, attempts at criminal activity have been thwarted and perpetrators have been caught because of the vigilant watch of these dedicated student employees, whose mission is to observe and to report.