A total of 107 campus safety phones have been removed this summer due to infrequent and inappropriate use.
18 of the phones have been replaced with keypad service phones that can be used to dial 9-1-1 or the campus police, but the rest of the phones have been completely removed.
The decision to remove the phones was made by the UC Davis emergency policy team of the Emergency Operations Center. Because almost every student owns a cell phone, the team decided that the phones were no longer serving a purpose. The recent increase of cell phone use on campus meant that many of the phones were not being used at all.
“New generations of students, cellular technology and wireless 9-1-1 have made most land-line emergency phones all but obsolete,” said Jill Parker, associate vice chancellor for safety services in a statement.
The phones were often used for prank calls or hang up calls, and Police Chief Annette Spicuzza said that the responses to these calls were a waste of UC Davis Police resources.
Furthermore, very few calls made on the phones were reporting life-threatening situations.
Annually, the phones had cost about $36,000 to maintain. It cost the university $70,000 to remove all of the phones.
– Hannah Strumwasser
I don’t know if a cell phone would have helped me though.