Although the Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that 92% of colleges had installed Emergency Blue Light Boxes by 2011, a recent Fred’s University study found the emergency phone kiosks scattered around the campus to be useless in stopping crime.
As many colleges are doing, Fred’s will be removing the expensive safety feature. The boxes were designed to make it possible for students to quickly contact campus police in the event of a crime. While the system was based on the assumption that crimes on campus were committed outside by strangers, the FU study found that most crime on campus is perpetuated by students, faculty, and administrators in the form of rape, sexual harassment, and embezzlement.
In a leaked secret addendum to the report on Blue Boxes, it was shown that the boxes were based on a racist assumption that rape and other crimes are committed by black males on the street, when in fact most assaults and thefts were committed by white males indoors.
A pilot program to place panic buttons in all dorm rooms, frats, professor’s offices, and administrative suites has led to a stunning 69% reduction in crime.
Unfortunately, the grant money for the second trial of the panic buttons was funneled into the slush fund for the renovation of the Dean of Student’s private lounge and bathroom, so no further investments are planned at this time.