Newly-installed blue-light emergency phones might mean increased safety for OU students on campus, said Asst. Director of Campus Safety Mark Mathews.

The OU Police Department and the university installed 15 new blue-light emergency phones on campus and replaced seven outdated ones, he said. An additional three phones will be installed on the South Green catwalk, possibly by Winter Quarter.

Mathews said the OUPD has been updating the emergency phone system since Spring Quarter.

"It offers people the availability of a phone to get help when they need it," he said.

Four of the new phones are on the bike path and six are at on- and off-campus parking lots, he said. OUPD also installed phones at Lasher Hall, Baker Center, Ryors Hall, the President Street Academic Center and the South Green athletic fields.

OUPD replaced the phones at Bird Arena, Bryan Hall, Parks Hall, Peden Stadium, Seigfred Hall, Hudson Health Center and the Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium, because they did not have the numeric key pad, Mathews said.

Gordon Petty, assistant director of auxiliary services, said he and a Student Senate representative will tour the South Green catwalk next week to choose locations for the phones.

Their goal is to place the phones so that students can see at least one phone at all times, he said.

The new phones have a numeric keypad and a two inch palm button that connects to the OUPD dispatcher when activated, Mathews said. If someone calls the OUPD from an emergency phone, the dispatcher will see a number correlating to the phone and can dispatch officers to the area, he said.

The blue lights above the phones make them more visible, Mathews said. If someone activates the emergency button, the blue light becomes a strobe light.

The OUPD chose the locations for the new phones by examining safety needs across campus and listening to student concerns about unsafe areas, he said.

Amount of traffic, availability of phones in the area and difficulty of installation also affected the decision.

But the phones have never been used to report an emergency, Mathews said.

"That's not such a negative thing to me," he said. "Our officers carry guns but have never shot anyone. It's a safety issue."

Although there are 24 emergency phones across campus and three at The Ridges, students must still take precautions, Mathews said.

"I don't think [the phones] deter crime," he said. "Emergency phones aren't the cure-all. Even the most well-lit areas, bad things can still happen."

Walking with a friend, using the Campus Escort Service and walking in open areas will help prevent the necessity of emergency phones, Mathews said.

The OUPD hopes to expand the phone system on The Ridges, but the cost is high, Mathews said. The price tag for revamping the phones across campus exceeded $60,000, and the OUPD is seeking funding for The Ridges project, he said.

In addition, blue lights are being installed above existing call boxes at the residence halls. Residence Life Director Joe Burke said many blue lights have already been installed on East and West Greens and will be installed on South Green.