Blue light prank calls causing problems
Frequent 911 prank calls through the misuse of the 18 emergency phones located on campus is detracting from more important Utah State University Police duties and is potentially dangerous, police say.
USU Police Lt. Shane Sessions, said prank calls made by pushing the buttons at the emergency stations are occurring at least once a week, and as often as three times per day.
“It creates a problem because by law, it’s a 911 call, and we’re required to respond,” he said. “It’s not really a good thing to do because it takes away from what is occurring at the moment in time. An officer could be in the middle of something significant.”
Sessions said about 99 percent of the time, when police respond to a call at the emergency station, no one is around and the phone was activated by someone who was bored. About one call per semester is valid, he said, prank calls create the potential to place officers in a difficult position.
“It could present a dilemma,” he said. “You could easily have a medical or life threatening case or assault occurring at this very moment, and the officer or officers are responding to that, and then we get someone who for no real reason, pushes the button and activates it. We have a period of time when you don’t know if someone has passed out or is being attacked and unable to communicate.
“The officer has to make a decision – which of the two is more important. Hopefully, he won’t have to make that kind of decision that could have some serious ramifications.”
While there is no real pattern, Sessions said, many of the calls occur during class breaks or after athletic events.
The majority of the phones were placed on campus during the late 1980s and early1990s to provide immediate access to emergency help for those on campus. Sessions said cell phones offer the same type of increased emergency response time.
“We probably get calls a lot quicker today because students don’t have to go search into a building for a courtesy or office phone,” Sessions said. “It has probably speeded up the alert response time by one to five minutes.”
Sessions said the emergency stations offer the same type of increased emergency response time for those who do not carry cell phones.
By pressing a button at the emergency station, a person is immediately connected to a 911 line, Sessions said. The phones are meant to be used to call for help in emergencies such as witnessing someone who needs medical attention, such as slipping on the ice of a sidewalk, detecting a fire in one of the nearby buildings, threat or witness of an attack or to call for a police escort.
“Someone who is under attack could run to the station and call for help,” he said. “You are connected in one to two seconds.”
The emergency stations is just one of measures that combine to make campus safe, Sessions said
“Having [the lights] there might give a criminal a sense that they can’t get away with something because someone can report something faster,” he said.
Other measures on campus include educating students to have increased awareness of dangers and preventative measures, adequate lighting, a police escort service and proper groundskeeping measures, Sessions said.
“We have a good group of groundskeepers who have kept the bushes and things trimmed to the point where they are beautiful, but not tot he point where a perpetrator could hide,” he said.
Sessions said he encourages students to be considerate and not press the buttons at the emergency stations as a prank.
“As a student, you personally could be in serious jeopardy,” he said, “and have those resources coming to your assistance.”
If another person prank calls through the blue lights it could create difficulty responding to the real emergency he said.
“Then the shoes is on the other foot. You’d hate to be that student who needs the help so don’t push it,” he said.
Sessions also said he encourages students to keep their guard up as Red Zone comes to an end. Students should continue to be aware of their surroundings. Students should attend parties in groups and “go together, leave together,” only drink what they bring with them and should carefully get to know the people they are dating, he said.
-bnelson@cc.usu.edu