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Emergency Call Boxes

kristina Uppal, Staff Writer
Published: January 30, 2010

Though, Santa Rosa Junior College was rated one of the 6th safest schools in California, students and faculty alike still worry about crime and safety on campus.

To help alleviate that worry the Santa Rosa Junior College began installing emergency call boxes throughout the Santa Rosa junior college community; this includes the SRJC campus, Shone farms and the Public Safety training center in Windsor with boxes continuing to pop up in the Petaluma center, and additional district properties.  There are currently an estimated 18 call boxes in place in the community.

Emergency call boxes are located on each floor of the parking garage on Santa Rosa campus and are simple to use. With a press of a button you are directly connected to district police dispatch that will assist you in your distress. Each call box or direct-dial phone has a specific I.D. to make it easy for an officer to locate you; on a number of boxes there are also surveillance cameras.

Direct-dial phones are located in building elevators and can be used to directly connect to police dispatch or assist in medical or fire emergencies. Additionally, pay phones on campus feature a free “*” 80 procedure that will allow the caller a direct connect to a police dispatch in the case of an emergency.

The district police department works along with Sonoma county police officers, if there is ever an emergency on campus that district police cannot attend to Santa Rosa Police department can immediately come and assist.

According to the Government office of postsecondary education, over 1000 California College campus for the year 2008 had NO on campus murders, four non-forcible sex offenses (statutory rape/incest), 93 arsons, 261 forcible sex offenses, 257 robberies, 360 aggravated assaults, 1049 motor vehicle thefts-the largest on-campus crime however, was an astounding 3159 burglaries.

The 2008 Cleary Safety report for SRJC showed a significantly low number of offenses, one forcible sex, one arson offense and eight burglaries. According to the report both the Petaluma and Windsor Campuses have zero offenses for the 2008 report.

Sgt. Don Silverek with Santa Rosa Junior College District Police stated the most common reason for burglaries is simple negligence, many students leave valuable items in an unsecured and open location. Many students forget that “Santa Rosa is a big city” being too trustworthy makes many students easy targets.

What can you do in case to stay safe on campus? “Be alert, familiarize yourself with your surroundings” says sgt. Silverek, also know where the nearest emergency call box or direct-dial phone is located and if there is any hesitation call the district police at 527-1000, they can assist you and also escort you to your next class or car.

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