BYU NewsNet - BYUPD: Emergency phones are an under-used resource

By MICHELLE TREASURE

Emergency phones dot the walkways of campus, their blue glow lighting the way for students walking home in the dark of the night.

Kylie Marquis, a junior from Lindon, is one such student, often walking home alone at night. She said walking in the dark is the only time she feels unsafe on campus because the area between buildings isn’t well lit.

For students who feel unsafe or uneasy, emergency phones offer a chance to talk to a police dispatcher who can send help and address the problem. The Code Blue CB 8 phones use speakerphones to connect callers to dispatchers with the push of a button. Dispatchers can tell exactly where on campus the call is coming from. However, many students are unaware of this safety resource.

“Very rarely are they used,” said Lt. Arnold Lemmon of University Police. He said cell phone technology has changed how students, faculty and staff report campus crime.

“I keep my phone and keys in my hand in case of emergencies,” Marquis said. She said there usually aren’t emergency phones around when she feels unsafe, but said she would probably use one if it was there when she needed it.

The locations of 52 emergency phones are unscientifically chosen by a police committee. Some of the more secluded areas of campus, such as Maeser Hill, have several phones because police felt it was important to more fully cover the area. Lemmon said one of the more frequently used phones is near the Richards Building to report medical emergencies.

Lemmon said the phones are an industry standard and that he has never been on a major college campus that doesn’t have them.

Police dispatchers treat calls from the emergency phones just as they would treat a normal 911 call. Dispatchers will send officers to investigate every emergency phone call unless there is concrete proof the threat isn’t real, said dispatcher Debra Harmon.

If a person is walking past and hears the dispatchers talking through a phone, they should stop and tell the dispatchers if they see anything suspicious or if a small child just ran up and pushed the button, said dispatcher Chad Beck.

Harmon and Beck said the number of calls they receive depends on the weather and school schedule. Calls go down during finals but pick up as the weather gets warmer.

Dispatchers also receive a lot of prank calls from sports camps and conference participants during the summer months.

Young participants are encouraged to use the phones if they get lost on campus. Harmon said she once received a call from parents in New York saying their child was lost somewhere on campus. As she had in similar situations, Harmon told the parents to call their child and have him go to the nearest emergency phone so dispatchers could give the child directions back to where he needed to be.

Harmon said dispatchers help a few participants during the first few days of each camp. She said she feels the emergency phones lead to less children being reported missing on campus.

However, many students give the idea of emergency phones mixed reviews.

Angela Breedlove, a Latin American studies major from Keizur, Ore., said she probably wouldn’t think to push the button in an emergency.

“There aren’t enough [phones]. I would have to think about where they are if I needed them,” said Evann Howlett, a sophomore majoring in history.

“I’ve never heard of it being successful,” she said.

Lemmon and Marquis both said they feel the phones could deter crime from occurring.

“The phones can only help us,” Lemmon said.

BYU Police recommend crimes be reported as soon as possible, a plan that is supported by the placement of emergency phones.

“If [students] feel threatened or are having trouble, they should use the emergency phone,” Harmon said.

BYU Police can also be reached directly by calling 2-2222 or 911 from a campus phone. Calling 911 from a cell phone leads to Provo City Police, who connect callers to BYUPD.

Two BYU dispatchers are always on duty, with three coming in for big events such as basketball and football games.

For students who aren’t around an emergency phone, Lemmon suggested other safety measures, such as using good street sense, staying in well-lit areas and staying aware of their environment. If students feel unsafe at night, they can use the emergency phones to call police for a safe walk to the edge of campus.