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Roanoke police Officer Terry Oates has responded to a lot of calls in his 31 years on the force.

But the most frequent type of call he responded to was for domestic violence.

"It was the number one call when I was on the streets," he said. "It probably still is."

But in 2005, Oates decided to do more to help domestic violence victims.

He began collecting cellphones.

Oates was honored in November by Attorney General Bob McDonnell for collecting more than 800 cellphones for the Verizon Wireless' HopeLine program.

The HopeLine program recycles cellphones and then gives new phones to domestic violence victims, said Sherry Cunningham, a Verizon spokeswoman.

Oates, of southeast Roanoke County, said he found out about the program while searching the Internet to find a place for the phones that were piling up in the property room of the Roanoke Police Department.

"We were saving all those phones, and they were taking up a lot of space," he said.

HopeLine "was the only place that could guarantee that the memory would be erased from the phones and that it [proceeds] would go to the victims," he said.

Cunningham said the phones the program gives to victims contain the latest features as well as 3,000 prepaid minutes.

"The closer that a victim gets to trial, the more that they need the phone" to talk to an attorney and family, and for safety purposes, Cunningham said.

Oates said he was also drawn to the program because of its ability to track domestic violence victims.

"The phones have a GPS tracking system so if a victim would call 911, they could trace the call," Oates said, referring to the police officers who can trace the call.

Oates said he received the recycling bins from HopeLine and then started collecting phones.

"We put out advertising in the police newsletter," he said. "That's where we got the bulk of the phones."

Oates said that he and another officer collected 480 cellphones and received 330 from the police department.

Cunningham said the HopeLine program also donates money to shelters that work with domestic violence victims.

She said this year the organization donated $110,000 in Virginia HopeLine grants, with $5,000 going to Roanoke Valley CASA Foundation to help train volunteers to work with victims.

Oates said he went to local businesses and organizations to encourage them to donate their cellphones to HopeLine because of its ability to reach many organizations.

"If you give the phones to them, they can do a lot more with it than if you recycle it yourself," Oates said. "With the money they gave in November, it could help our cause a lot."

Cunningham said Oates is one of the reasons the program has been able to collect more than 3 million phones since the program's inception in 2001.

"We're very lucky to be supported by heroes like Terry," Cunningham said. "They've seen the devastation of domestic violence in the course of their careers, and this is another avenue they can do something about it."

Close to retirement, Oates, a fingerprint specialist, said he will work with the police department to collect cellphones even after he retires.

"Citizens, businesses, whoever you are, bring in your phones," Oates said. "We will come and get them if you don't want to bring it in. We just want to get the word out."