911 SYSTEM LINKS SEMO CAMP TO UNIVERSITY POLICE

Until recently, when someone on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University dialed 911 to report an emergency, the call was forwarded to the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

But now that Cape Girardeau, Jackson and the county are on line with new or improved 911 systems, the university has followed suit.

"We bought the equipment -- some of it from the (Cape County Sheriff's Department) -- and adapted it to our existing system," said Doug Richards, director of University Police and Transportation at the university. "Now, instead of 911 calls going to the Cape Girardeau Police Department, they come straight to us."

The new and used equipment was purchased with funds from a portion of the bond issue passed by voters for the county E911 system.

In case of an emergency, all anyone on campus needs to do is dial 911 or 9-911 to reach the university police headquarters.

"The only phones on campus that won't come to us are the pay phones," said Richards. "They will still go to the city."

If the emergency involves a fire or personal injury, the dispatchers at the University Police Department will get on another line with the city police or the ambulance service. Under normal conditions, dispatchers at the Cape Girardeau Police Department have sole access to the paging system for the Cape Girardeau Fire Department.

"Having 911-capability is very necessary on our campus," said Richards. "Not only for safety purposes, but also because we have a department right on campus which can respond in less time than it would take a city officer to get there.

"If there's something going on somewhere on campus, we're right here and can respond within a minute or two," he continued. "We know the campus, the buildings and all the little nooks and crannies."

The university previously had its own version of a 911 system in place before the bond issue was ever voted on. Students could access the university police by dialing 2-911 or by dialing direct. If a person dialed just 911, the calls headed straight to the city.

All phones in the University Police Department also have a small screen with digital readout, telling the receiver where the call is coming from, somewhat like the city's E911 display.

"Sometimes someone will try to fool us by transferring the call a few times before calling us," said Richards. "But our system has the tracking capability to trace it to its source almost immediately."

Another added feature in the communications room at the campus police department which goes hand-in-hand with the 911 system is a recording system for all phone and communications lines.

"Recorded lines are extremely beneficial, if for no other reason than for emergency situations," said Richards. "We now have playback capabilities in case a dispatcher didn't quite hear or needed to clarify what the caller was saying."

Radio traffic between cars and from the station to field officers is also recorded.

The reel-to-reel recorder was purchased from the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. The large tapes will be saved for a minimum of 30 days.

The university also is planning to install emergency call boxes around campus in the near future, Richards said. All students have to do to reach the police is lift the receiver or push a button in the box. If the caller is unable to speak, university police dispatchers will immediately know the location of the call box and can dispatch officers.

"When you're dealing with potential life and death situations, any resource is worthwhile," said Richards. "This system is a major improvement for us. It provides a higher level of safety and security for everyone on campus; that's the bottom line."