Although the most recent full data on crime is from 2021, just a quick search for “Longo” in my email was enough to turn up over 50 community alerts in the last year, most of those occurring in off-Grounds areas that lack a robust blue light system. How often do you need to call the police outside of New Cabel hall or O-Hill? Now, how often do you think people need to call the police on Grady or 14th? For years now, local police have been aware of the rising crime rate at the University. While the data shows that blue lights are not used often, and I myself have never seen anyone use one of the blue lights, this is more a reflection of their location than it is their efficacy. Some may point out that the blue light phones at the University are underutilized. Especially in light of recent events, the University must work with the City to redress this unnecessary gap in safety measures.
If you are past Gordon or off of JPA, you are on your own. If you live off the Corner, your best case scenario is one blue light on your street. Additionally, the last blue light north of the Lawn is on the corner of Gordon and 15th Street, by the Martha Jefferson House. While on-Grounds blue lights are often side by side, there is a block separating each of the few blue lights that currently exist off-Grounds. Extending the blue light path allows students to have their calls continue to be monitored as they get home. If you are using a blue light phone, it is possible that you are not in a position to call from one location. While seven is better than zero, this is a misutilization of what I would argue is the phone’s main function - a safety network. Simply put, there are not enough blue lights to ensure each student has equal access to this important safety mechanism. There are zero blue lights off of housing down Jefferson Park Avenue by Fry's Spring. There are currently seven blue light phones - owned and operated by the City of Charlottesville - near off-Grounds housing behind the Corner. An increase in the amount of blue lights would act as a safety net, allowing you to always have access to help when you need it regardless of whether your phone is dead or has wifi. But Rave and apps like it require an internet connection and a charged phone - sometimes a rare commodity after a long night out. Recent apps like Rave Guardian intend to capture some of the simplicity of blue light phones, allowing you to contact police with just the push of a button. They are always readily available and do not even require you to speak to a 911 operator - just pushing the button sends police to your location. Blue lights do not die, they do not break, and they do not go offline. And while I will admit I was hesitant to refer to the phones using this term, the blue light’s payphone-esque features are what make it so reliable. I know that hearing “payphone” immediately makes one think that blue lights are outdated, or at the very least, outmatched by cellphones. Adding to this system only strengthens the rest of the system, allowing students to access the phones more regularly and with ease.
One blue light phone is no good as you have to be in a very specific area to access it. The power of the blue light phones is not that there is one of them - it is that there are many. In this way, the blue light phones are more of an organized system than they are a mere police payphone. When you call using one blue light phone, you can travel to a second phone and continue your call, allowing police to stay in contact with you as the situation progresses.
Blue lights, however, are more than just phones. With their distinctive blue-lighted tops, the wireless system requires merely the push of a button to alert the University Police Department. In order to better understand why the University should continue to invest in the blue light system, it is important to know how the phones work. With well over half of all University students living off-Grounds, it is past time for the University to expand the blue light phone system. However, that same care has not been taken with areas outside of central Grounds, particularly around centers of off-Grounds student housing. The University has taken great care in securing Grounds, with nearly 100 blue lights readily available to students on-Grounds. No matter what your walk to class takes you by, it is near impossible to avoid passing one of the University’s blue light phones.
0 kommentar(er)
