Syracuse University’s Blue Light Alarm System is being abused instead of used, according to a report from the University Senate Committee on Student Life.

Of the more than 10,000 times the lights were used, fewer than 12 of the instances were because students needed help, and only one incident was an emergency, the report states. It’s unclear in the report if this accounts for all-time use or use in the last year. Department of Public Safety Chief Bobby Maldonado said there have been 154 blue lights installed on campus since the system was installed in the 1980s.

“The available blue lights today are constantly used in inappropriate ways by students who are neither in a dangerous situation nor in need of immediate help,” according to the report, which was sent out April 13. The committee will discuss the report at next Wednesday’s USen meeting.

The report mentions blue light use as part of a larger analysis of safety on campus. Committee members met with DPS, the Syracuse Police Department and the Office of Off-Campus and Commuter Services in January to address two major security issues: burglaries and on-street assaults.

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Sixty-four burglaries and four robberies were reported on SU main campus in 2014, according to DPS’s 2015 crime report. Many of these resulted from students leaving doors, windows and cars unlocked, the committee report states.

Based on their current use by students, adding more blue lights would not necessarily improve safety on campus, the report states. This year isn’t the first time the university saw students using the blue light system irresponsibly. In 2011, DPS found that 1,043 of its 1,051 blue light calls were “false reports or pushes,” according to a 2012 Daily Orange article.

Still, the numbers surprised Student Life Committee Chair Jose Rosado. He said it’s a “perfect example” of why there needs to be better education on campus safety because students don’t understand what happens when they hit the button — with no actual emergency – and DPS responds.

“I was expecting there were going to be false alarms, but I would have never thought the numbers were going to be in the 5 digits,” Rosado said. “The fact that there are blue lights present makes students feel safe, and hopefully the students will see that this feeling of being safe off-campus won’t be possible because of the misuse of the equipment.”

Students also aren’t looking for safety information provided on university websites themselves.

“Students do not seek and are often unaware of this information, and thus, new means of disseminating safety information must be found,” the report said.

Instead, the committee recommended that DPS and organizations such as the Student Association and the Graduate Student Organization develop digital safety public service announcements like videos and other materials. The committee also promoted the further use of SU’s LiveSafe app, which was rolled out on campus last semester.

If DPS, SA and GSO choose to send out more online safety resources, the committee said it will assess how effective those resources are in an annual report.

Published on April 20, 2016 at 10:25 pm

Contact Annie: apalme05@syr.edu