Parks staff, Auburn Police and the City’s Information Technology staff have been talking a lot of late about ways to improve safety and perceived safety at Les Gove and other Auburn parks by lighting pathways, adding separate parking stalls for police officers and the like.

Add to the list, phones marked by a blue light above.

Blue lights for short.

Still in the research stage, they may be coming to Les Gove Park later this year.

“It’s a direct phone to police, with a blue light on a six-foot-high pedestal,” said Daryl Faber, director of Auburn, Parks, Arts and Recreation. “You see them at community colleges and in shopping malls. Green River College has them on campus walking trails. We are considering them for Les Gove’s next phase of improvements.”

Where employed across the nation, they are often found in grey, weatherproof boxes. In an emergency, one presses a red button to automatically dial the police. Many of the phones have a regular telephone keypad. Typically, the devices limit calls to about 90 seconds.

According to Auburn Police Chief Bob Lee, one common question at the aforementioned meetings: now that most people have cell phones, does Auburn really need these blue-light gizmos?

“They say ‘emergency phone’ on them,” said Lee. “With some, you purchase a camera on them, so when the person comes up to dial 911, or maybe they’re hoaxing around, you’ll be able to see who they are. But if somebody has an emergency, and they don’t happen to have a cell phone — maybe somebody stole it — you can go to this particular location, dial 911 and get an officer.”