Assistance phone towers coming to campus soon

Beck Elandt 

Staff Writer 

WCC’s Assistance Phone towers are almost here and aimed to be more helpful than the former emergency stations. 

“We want them to be used if we’re going to upgrade, so we are encouraging people to use them as assistance phones,” said Chief of Public Safety John Leacher. 

Leacher notes that he contacted public safety peers from universities across the state such as Michigan State, Northern Michigan and the University of Michigan. Most shared that emergency phones were used occasionally, but that people felt much more secure overall knowing they had them. 

“The University of Michigan Flint campus,” said Leacher, is where he received the idea for multipurpose assistance phones. 

Leacher shares that the new phones will connect directly to the public safety office, where the caller will be connected to an informed dispatcher who can answer questions regarding WCC and provide assistance in emergency situations. On top of this, the dispatcher will be shown the location of the phone that’s calling, something the former generation of phone towers lacked.

“Any type of emergency situation, I can see myself using it,” Liam Hutchins, a pre-engineering student, said. Hutchins said that, in a situation where he doesn’t have his phone, he would find the assistance phones useful. 

There are estimated to be 10 stations total on the campus, eight of which are situated around the main campus and two surrounding the Health and Fitness Center. The speakers will have blue lights on top so they can be seen from farther away and loudspeakers for delivering public service announcements to the campus outside.

James Buckner, who is currently in the radiology program, supports the idea of safety phones. “I can see myself using one if I am in any type of immediate danger,” he said. 

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