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Hundreds of Cameras Keep Watch over U By Elizabeth Cook 11/11/05 |
The University started with a dozen
security cameras in the 1980s and is on its way to having 700 around campus.
Students are being watched at the University whether they like it or not.
The Department of Central Security for the University located on University Avenue Southeast, monitors 670
security cameras, said Steve Frisk, operations supervisor of surveillance operations.
The monitoring center operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with two employees watching the feed at all times.
The University started installing
security cameras in the 1980s, Frisk said, in response to sexual assaults in the Oak Street ramp and the old East River Road ramp.
A majority of these security cameras, 444 of them, are in parking ramps and lots.
For example, the Washington Avenue ramp has 92 security cameras, all of which are monitored.
"There are
security cameras in the tunnel from the Radisson University Hotel to the McNamara Alumni Center and in the skyway from the ramp to the hotel," Frisk said.
Ben Schnabel, the University’s Security Monitor Program Manager said not all
security cameras are hooked up to central security because the monitors in the individual buildings know what to look for in their individual labs.
"There are two different systems in those buildings. One records activity in the labs, which the lab consultants monitor. The other is Web-based and gives the monitors the ability to zoom in and tilt, but those do not record," Le May said.
Steve Johnson, University Police Department deputy chief, said police often review tapes from
security cameras when trying to solve crimes.
Johnson said the point of the
security cameras is to help protect people and deter crime.
If criminals see
security cameras, “they’re probably going to go somewhere else to commit the crime,” Johnson said.
Source: mndaily.com
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