To police or not to police?

I'll always remember my first faculty meeting as a teacher. The principal said, "We're not going to dress code leggings anymore. We lost the legging battle."

This struck me. There are times when prohibiting any one thing becomes more trouble than its worth. These days, it's phones. Every teacher at my school has a different rule for phones. This inconsistency tends to cause a lot of problems for everyone and creates tension between teachers with hard vs. soft rules on cell phones. 

My personal rule is that they can have them in their pocket, or upside down on their desk, they just cannot use them during class. 

Another teacher on my team says if she sees it, it will be taken away. 

Another has a basket in the front of them room that they have to put them in during class. 

Seventh grade has a rule that they cannot use their cell phones at lunch, however UA and 8th grade teachers let them use their phones at lunch. 

See the problem here? 

I favor softer cell phone rules if only because, for me, policing phones is more trouble than it's worth. You have students thinking they're getting away with something, which, in my mind, undermines my authority. There's also the issue with dealing with disgruntled parents who are angry with you for taking their child's phone away (when it's taken and sent to the office, a parent has to pick it up and if it's taken a 2nd time, parents cannot pick up the phone for 10 days). And finally, you are also battling other teachers who have softer rules on cell phones, which creates that friction/tension in your peer relationships. 

I don't know what the best way is, all I know is that I have far less problems with cell phones than other teachers with harder rules, who seem to be dealing with cell phone issues daily. 

But the question remains, is it worth the effort to police?