The Silent Sentries

 

Blue lit silent sentries on the Forty Acres, the police call boxes on campus act as both deterrents of crime and aids for students.

Labeled “POLICE HELP” on the sides, the bright yellow call boxes should be utilized for fire, medical, or similar emergencies, Crime Prevention Unit Officer William Pieper said, but can also be used for smaller emergencies, like keys locked in cars or requesting an escort at night.

Police call boxes at the University of Texas campus have been activated just under an average of five times a week since January, though many were either pranks or non-criminal activations. With an ever expanding campus, the Crime Prevention Unit works with construction companies to access the need for new boxes.

Whenever a new building is proposed on the main campus, UTPD reviews and cooperates with contractors to have at least one call box installed. Installation is less costly if placed in the building’s design rather than after the building is built. The University of Texas pays for the device and fitting, Officer Brewster said.

“I have yet to have a construction program say, ’we’re not going to pay for that’,” Officer Pieper said. “On a new building, we always get a call box installed.”

When pressed, a call box’s blue light will flash as it connects to the police station, who will then ask what services are needed. UTPD runs maintenance once a week to ensure there are no defective devices.  Since the call boxes are in the wind and rain, officers check each box for speaker and microphone clarity. Any call boxes found to be malfunctioning are fixed within 24 to 48 hours, Officer Layne Brewster said.

“Each and every week, someone, an officer normally, will go and physically press the button to test it,” Brewster said.

The over 150 campus call boxes collectively have been activated 198 times since the beginning of this year. While many of the calls are pranks, call boxes have been effectively used in arrests, identifying perpetrators, and protecting victims, Officer Pieper said. The threat of the flashing blue light acts as a deterrent for would-be criminals, even when the boxes are not used.

 While call box use is encouraged when help is needed, pushing a call button when there is no emergency is a Class B misdemeanor, according to the university’s website. Many students on campus see the boxes as a preventative measure rather than a reactive one. Widespread access to smartphones makes Victor Brito, a senior, wonder about the effectiveness of the devices.

“I don’t have any friends who have used one of those things,” Brito said. “Unless my cell phone’s dead, why would I run to a box when I could call 911?”

While quite visible, Heather Burkhalter, 18, said that besides a brief reference at orientation, she didn’t know much at all about the call boxes. The freshman added that for a college campus, however, safety is a necessity.

“I think they’re amazing to have for a college campus,” Burkhalter said. “Safety is a huge priority for students.”