The Michigan Times

Issue date: 3/16/10 Section: Campus

Chances are that if you have been on campus, you have seen one of the bright blue lights with the red box reading “emergency.” At orientation, students are told that these phones are a direct line to public safety and should only be used as stated on the phone.

So, how often are these phones used?

“These phones are not used enough,” said Director of the Department of Public Safety Chalmers Sanders. “I think there are occasions that people could use the phones and they don’t.”

“I also believe that we do not have enough of these phones on campus,” Sanders said. “Some universities argue that the phones aren’t being used because almost everyone has a cell phone. However, not everyone has a cell phone, and it is usually easier for student to get a hold of DPS by one of the emergency phones rather than remembering what number to dial.”

Sanders would view the phones not as emergency implementation, but as a resource for all students to access for a multitude of reasons.

“I don’t believe in emergency phones. I look at them as something for students to use if they need anything,” Sanders said. “I don’t want students to stand in the parking lot with a flat tire and not think to use the phone because they feel that it’s not an emergency.”

“The phones should be used for information, if there’s a problem, or if you feel that there’s something suspicious,” Sanders said.

The Department of Public Safety tries to keep their response time within three minutes of a call.

“We would like to think that it’s a security blanket for students when they come on campus,” Sanders said.

However, Sanders believes that the emergency phones are outdated when it comes to functionality.

“The new generation of blue light phones have video on them. I would like to see that come to campus,” Sanders said. “That way, the dispatcher can see what is happening on the other end of the phone.”

In a study conducted by “The Michigan Times” with cooperation with the DPS, an escort was called for at a random time and location from one of the many emergency phones on campus.

The escort arrived four minutes and forty five seconds after the request was made.

Student Patrol Officer Lorenzo Jones considered the request something of an anomaly.

“Calls from the emergency phones don’t happen often at all,” Jones said. “We try to react as quickly as we can when calls do occur, however.”

“I don’t see why students don’t use the phones more often for things like if they’re lost or if they need help,” Jones said.

However, not all are happy with the response time of the DPS.

“The response time was really slow,” said Tamera Dandachi, junior graphic design and anthropology major.

“I didn’t use the emergency phone because I had the number for DPS programmed in my phone,” Dandachi said. “At orientation, they advise all students to put the number in their phones.”

“However, they say that there’s nothing they can do if a car gets hit or broken in to due to the fact that there aren’t any cameras in ramp,” Dandachi said.

No matter what implements have taken place, student safety has always remained a concern on all sides.

Aaron can be reached at aaburch@umflint.edu.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools