Emergency call box located outside of the Fairfield Communications building at Butler University.
By Leah Johnson
5 Rights | staff writer
The issue of security is at the forefront of many universities. In recent years, some college campuses have become prone to crimes. For most prospective college students, though, the emergency call boxes on campus provide an important sense of security.
Incoming Huntington University –located in Huntington, Indiana- freshman Paris Williams knows that the safety of her school influenced her college application process.
“Not only does Huntington have the emergency call boxes, but they also have regular patrol at all times,“ said Williams. “Since it’s a small campus, that means there is more coverage of all of the time.”
“It really depends on other factors, whether or not I would attend the university based on security. If it was especially impressive I would have to make other allowances like carrying a rape whistle or mace.”
Safety of students and staff are the first priority of Butler University. Director of public safety and Chief of Butler Police Benjamin Hunter knows that being located in a larger city poses more criminal dangers.
“Butler University is located in the 12th largest city in the country, so for us it is about the awareness and mitigating the risks,” said Hunter. “With college students it is about being proactive.”
During the summer months, Butler University Police Department is undergoing both construction and instructional changes. Butler police will be in training sessions to adequately gear up their forces for the fall. They are also building a new operation system, to prevent operating their department in a vacuum.
Although Butler is not planning on removing their emergency call boxes, other universities have begun to eliminate the system.
University of California Davis will begin taking out all 107 of their safety phones at the end of the summer.
“However, new generations of students, cellular technology and wireless 9-1-1 have made most land-line emergency phones all but obsolete,” Jill Parker, vice chancellor for safety services of the university released in a memo to the school’s executive policy team.
The university receives mostly prank calls about flats tires, instead of the intended emergency phone calls. With the increased usage of cell phones, the need for the boxes is less now than it once was. Parker also added that the call boxes weren’t in locations that provided the necessary coverage, because they weren’t guided by the campus-wide plan.
The call boxes are among the reasons students still feel safe, despite the recent Lauren Spierer missing person case said incoming Indiana University freshman Nadia Lovko.
“The emergency call boxes definitely make me feel safer. Otherwise I wouldn’t walk around campus at night,” said Lovko. “I just got back form orientation and couldn’t go five minutes without seeing a flyer or something asking for information related to the [Lauren Spierer] incident. It certainly will make me more cautious.”
Despite the cost, call boxes still offer reassurance on many campuses.
