The mission of Syracuse University’s Department of Public Safety is to provide a safe learning and living environment, and it does so through patrol services, surveillance video and the Blue Light Alarm System. While DPS is doing a good job monitoring and maintaining the current Blue Lights, it should consider expanding the Blue Lights to more high-risk areas around SU’s campus.

DPS Commander Andrew Mrozienski said that there are now 148 Blue Light stations at SU. The Blue Lights are strategically placed throughout campus and are intended to aid people who are in distress. When activated, they provide direct contact with the DPS Communication Center. These stations are tested every month and kept clear of snow so they are accessible.

DPS works with the university regularly to equip new properties with Blue Lights. It should continue this effort and consider a particular focus on the outskirts of campus.

The incidents of robbery publicized by DPS through campus-wide emails frequently occur on streets adjacent to the university, away from the heart of campus and academic buildings. Comstock and Walnut avenues, as well as Marshall Street, should be areas of particular interest to the university because students often walk them at night. Adding Blue Lights to these areas of high foot traffic could reinforce existing security measures potentially deterring robberies or other forms of petty crime.

It should also be noted that the current map of the Blue Lights around campus, available on the DPS website, does not detail all of the current Blue Light locations. This map should be updated to ensure that students who are looking for Blue Light locations are able to find the information.

From July 1, 2014 to Feb. 25, there were 510 activations of the Blue Light system; only four of those instances were from people in distress. “It’s been pretty consistent ever since they put in the first ones, there’s almost never a real emergency when these alarms are pushed,” Mrozienski said. The majority of false alarms are pranks, attempts to test DPS’s response time or people mistaking the Blue Light for a cross walk.

Despite the low number of instances of emergencies that utilized the Blue Light system, it is important that there is still a strong presence of Blue Lights on campus. One never hopes to need the Blue Light Alert System, but it is reassuring to students to know that it’s available.