AUSTIN, Texas — Faculty and staff at the University of Texas at Austin are preparing to welcome students back to the classroom on Monday.
The university wants everyone to not only have a successful school year but a safe one as well. One of the ways UT is implementing school safety is by having 300 emergency call boxes spread throughout the campus.
The bright yellow emergency call boxes can be found along walkways, inside building entrances and in and around parking garages. The boxes are designed to provide a direct line of communication to the UT Austin Police Department's dispatch center.
If anyone on campus ever finds themselves in a situation where they may have to use one of the call boxes, simply push the button on the box and the call will be directly connected to a UTPD dispatcher. The alert automatically pinpoints the caller's location and an officer will immediately respond.
UT also wants to remind people that pushing a call button when there is no emergency is the same as making a false report to law enforcement – a Class B misdemeanor that can include jail time and a $2,000 fine.
According to UT's emergency management website, to enhance safety and security for university buildings after normal operational hours, each building has a designated single entrance, called a celebrated entrance, that faculty, staff and students can access by using their UT ID card.
All celebrated entrances of academic buildings have emergency and lifesaving resources, including an automatic external defibrillator, an emergency call box, a bleeding control kit and signage with the building's name, address and acronym.
Safehorns, a nonprofit organization that works to improve the safety of the UT community, listed on its website that, in March, all LED lighting on Rio Grande Street was replaced. The previous yellow glow has been switched to a white glow to keep streets well lit for students and visitors at night.
When it comes to active shooter response, UT has three key steps listed online: run, hide and fight.
If you're in an active shooter situation, it's recommended that you determine if you can reach an escape path to a safer area. If so, you should get out. If you can't evacuate, you should find a secure place to hide. As a last resort, if you can't hide and you have absolutely no other option, you can confront the shooter.
UT Emergency Management says the best method to reach emergency assistance is to directly call 911.
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