Contact: Kathy
Johnson
 This
new phone service is intended to complement the
emergency phones located on campus and serve the
many students and employees who own cell phones.
The #UKPD (8573) will work as long as the cell
phone plan is with one of the participating companies,
even though many students have purchased their
plans in their hometowns.

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LEXINGTON,
Ky. (Jan. 28, 2004) -- New
measures are being implemented at the University
of Kentucky in an effort to improve the safety
and security of students, employees and visitors.
UK
President Lee T. Todd Jr. today announced the establishment
of a new, convenient cell phone number that can
be used to contact the UK
Police Department directly. He also announced
the success of the expanded evening and late-night
bus service on campus and praised the UK Police
Department and the Lexington-Fayette
Urban County Government Division of Police for
their partnership to increase police presence at
the university and in nearby neighborhoods.
“As
a public service, the six local cell phone companies
have agreed to provide #UKPD (8573) as a quicker
way to contact the UK Police Department from those
cell phones,” Todd said.
“The
companies whose cell phones can be used immediately
for this purpose are Cingular, Sprint, Nextel and
T-Mobile,” said Doyle Friskney, associate
vice president for information technology. “Verizon
Wireless and AT&T Wireless phones should be
operational soon.”
This
new phone service is intended to complement the
emergency phones located on campus and serve the
many students and employees who own cell phones.
The #UKPD (8573) will work as long as the cell
phone plan is with one of the participating companies,
even though many students have purchased their
plans in their hometowns.
While
the number is not intended to replace dialing 911
in emergencies, it can be used to more readily
contact UK Police in certain situations. Currently,
when someone on campus dials 911 from a cell phone,
that call goes directly to the Lexington Police
emergency dispatcher who can either dispatch a
Lexington Police officer to the scene or can contact
UK Police to respond to the scene, depending on
which agency could respond quicker. All 911 calls
from wired phones with a UK prefix of 257 or 323
already go directly to the UK Police dispatcher.
In
a further effort to meet the safety needs of the
campus community, UK
Parking and Transportation has expanded its
free evening and late-night Campus Area Transportation
Service, better known as the CATS bus service.
Normally a Monday through Thursday service, CATS
began offering transportation on an on-call basis
on weekends beginning Friday, Jan. 23. The bus
service is now available from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.
on Friday and Saturday and 7 p.m. to midnight on
Sunday.
“The
expanded CATS bus service was very successful for
its first weekend of availability, receiving 75
calls and providing rides for more than 150 people,” Todd
said. “This is an excellent complement to
SafeCats, the safety escort service already provided
by Student Government and the Air Force ROTC on
campus.”
Todd
also praised the “cooperation between UK
and Lexington Police to improve patrols and law
enforcement on campus and in surrounding neighborhoods.”
This
week Todd issued a broadcast e-mail to students,
employees and parents outlining other safety measures.
- UK
Police Department has three overlapping shifts
of officers in patrol vehicles, on bicycles and
on foot.
- UK
Police Department continues to issue campus-wide
safety alerts to inform students and employees
about the most recent criminal activity on campus.
- A
recently-installed card-access system is in place
in each residence hall and appropriate check-in
procedures are being followed.
- The Office
of Student Affairs is apprising all residents
of residence halls and fraternity and sorority
houses of safety and security advice.
“As
a representative of the students at the University
of Kentucky, I appreciate all the efforts the administration
is making to ensure our safety,” said Rachel
Watts, president of the UK
Student Government.
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