Effective today, students will be able to dial 911 from a land line on a campus grid and be directed to the Campus Police dispatcher instead of the Raleigh Police Department, Sgt. Jon Barnwell of Campus Police said.

Campus Police worked with Wake County to convert to a 911 primary in order to expedite the response of emergency personnel to the scene of emergency situations.

“We wanted to enhance the speed at which we responded to emergency calls by getting the 911 call directly as opposed to getting it rerouted through the city,” Barnwell said.

Previously, when 911 was dialed from a campus grid, the call went to the Raleigh Police Department’s dispatcher who transferred the call to Campus Police.

“That’s great,” Ryan Chamberlain, senior in film and political science, said. “I could never remember 515-3000 anyway if I was in dire need of Campus Police, so in regards to all that, it’s about time.”

Barnwell said there haven’t been any major issues in the past with the response time if the call goes through the city of Raleigh first, but by having the call directly routed to Campus Police it will provide a better service to the community.

“By having it come to us first we’re able to go ahead and get the first responders out on the scene and provide any emergency service when other resources are in route,” he said.

Students and faculty with cellular phones, however, must still dial the Campus Police number, (919) 515-3000, to avoid reaching the city of Raleigh and being redirected.

Chamberlain said most students would probably end up calling from cellular phones.

“I guess it’s just unfortunate that we have to dial the number still,” Chamberlain said.