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UNR's Camera Network Raises Fear |
University of Nevada, Reno officials acknowledge
that a network of about 80 “homeland security” surveillance
cameras is operating throughout the campus, and UNR faculty members and state
lawmakers say new policies and perhaps laws may be needed to prevent the system
from becoming a “big brother” surveillance
system.
Those concerns have been triggered in part because a homeland
security camera in the College of Agriculture was redirected to monitor the
doorways of a UNR Associate Professor who is suing the University and has filed
Federal Animal Abuse complaints against UNR. The
Camera Network was focused on the doorways
of Associate Professor Hussein S. Hussein after private investigators hired by
Hussein found a University Police Camera hidden in a smoke detector outside the
teacher’s office and police removed the device.
UNR Officials provided only general
information about the homeland security video network, which was completed in
January. They won’t say under what circumstances the
Network Cameras can be redirected
away from building entrances in order to keep an eye on the doorways of faculty
offices, labs or classrooms. They said publicizing that information “would compromise
the system.” The taken down by Police Jan. 31 was installed
after UNR President John Lilley approved its use to investigate a report of graffiti
— a swastika — scrawled on the professor’s door. Redirecting the Homeland Security
Camera — located down the same hallway — on the Professor’s door on Feb. 3 required
no such authorization. That’s because it’s part of the Homeland Security System,
Officials said.
UNR Officials said the new cameras, paid for by a $598,000 Department
of Homeland Security Grant awarded in 2003, are in plain sight in public areas
such as hallways and are similar in appearance to
video surveillance in casinos
and other businesses. But since 1993, people on the state’s college campuses have
enjoyed more protection against video surveillance than the general public. That
year, lawmakers reacting to an incident at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
banned surveillance of students, employees and faculty members except when a criminal
complaint is being investigated. The Nevada Board of Regents mandated that hidden
cameras can be used only with the written approval of the campus president.
Cameras questioned Jim Richardson, a lobbyist for the Nevada Faculty Alliance,
said the video surveillance
system at UNR and the use of cameras to monitor Hussein’s doors, raises disturbing
questions.
“Nobody should be directing cameras anywhere unless there’s criminal
activity and the President authorizes it,” he said. “There’s been a lot of concern
among faculty members about the cameras, and so far the explanations (from UNR
Officials) haven’t been viewed as adequate.” State law did not anticipate that
security cameras would become so commonplace.
“We’ve taken a quantum leap since
that law was passed in 1993,” Richardson said. “Back then, we were worried about
spy cameras set up to catch illegal basketball practices at UNLV. — Now surveillance
is a national issue; it’s an international issue. It’s like we’re losing any expectations
of privacy, walking down the street, at work, a mall, anywhere.” Richardson said
regents’ policies and state law haven’t caught up with the conflict between privacy
and security in the post-9/11 world.
State Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored the 1993 camera ban, said he’s withholding judgment on UNR’s use of security
cameras and hidden police cameras until he has more facts. But he said UNR
should have a clear policy about when and how the new camera system will be used.
“You can’t use homeland security as a blanket reason to do anything you want,”
he said. Since the Reno Gazette-Journal began asking UNR officials in January
about surveillance
cameras on campus, university officials have offered varying — and sometimes
conflicting — explanations. Adam Garcia, Campus Police Chief, at first said that
his force had nothing to do with the Homeland Security Video System. But UNR Officials
now admit that Garcia has full control of the
Network Cameras.
They said Garcia hadn’t
been fully briefed until Jan. 11, about a week after he denied knowing much about
the system. In that interview, Garcia said the Homeland Security Cameras couldn’t
be used for police surveillance or to investigate the intrusions and sabotage
of experiments reported by Hussein in his lab at the College of Agriculture.
On Feb. 3, three days after the camera hidden in the smoke detector was removed,
Garcia ordered a Homeland Camera in the agriculture building be used to monitor
the same lab to help investigate Hussein’s reports of intrusions, university officials
said. On Friday, Garcia said
Security Cameras are a common law-enforcement tool.
Network Surveillance Cameras protect campus “These are (placed in) areas where there is no expectation of privacy — hallways and other public areas,” Garcia said. “Cameras are not placed
in private areas such as offices, labs or rest rooms. All of the
surveillance cameras are highly
visible, in plain view and are housed in a round ‘bubble’ — no different than
those found in most public places throughout the country to deter theft and other
crimes.” Jane F. Tors, UNR spokeswoman, said the system is “passive” and doesn’t
have live video
monitors. She said the digital
recordings would be viewed only “when a breach of security has been reported
to university police.”
But an examination of the
camera system by private investigators
hired by Hussein revealed that the cameras are connected to a network called an
Ethernet. That network can be instantly hooked up to video monitors. "The police
camera also was connected to the same local network," the investigators said.
Tors
said the cameras’ fields of view are limited to public areas. “These cameras cannot
be remotely redirected,” she said. “In other words, one would use a ladder to
physically redirect the camera. There is no remote zoom-in, zoom-out capability.
They are similar to what you might see in a convenience store and are not the
same as cameras or security systems typically used in casinos.” She said the hidden
smoke detector camera was aimed at Hussein’s door Dec. 29, but UNR officials
have said they didn’t warn him of any danger.
Tors said the camera was installed
without the professor’s knowledge to help police investigate a swastika that appeared
on his door on Dec. 27. A faculty member, who police still decline to identify,
was the only person to see the symbol and erased it before reporting it. Between
Dec. 29 and Jan. 27, Hussein and three Graduate Students noticed unlocked doors
they said had been locked the nights before, and the students documented the contamination
of several lab experiments.
Those incidents were being investigated last week by the Nevada Division of Investigation with the help of campus police. Hussein’s
three students said they believe the constant surveillance and the lab incidents
are part of an orchestrated effort to discredit Hussein. Professor questions surveillance
UNR officials said police video of the lab door shows no “unauthorized persons”
entered the rooms during the period of the reported intrusions. Hussein said he
suspects UNR employees with keys to his door, who are authorized to enter his
lab in emergencies, are behind the intrusions and sabotage. Hussein said a campus
police officer notified him that his lab was again under surveillance on Feb.
3 while he and his lawyer were in court on a matter involving his civil rights
lawsuit against UNR.
Officials said the officer told Hussein the new
security camera was
there to protect him, but Hussein said he wasn’t given a reason for the continued
surveillance. “A policeman tracks me down at an important meeting in Federal Court
to tell me I’m still being watched,” he said. “The unspoken message I took away
was, ‘OK smart guy, you found our
spy camera, but we can still keep an eye on
you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.’
“I didn’t request a camera and
I don’t want one, but there it is,” he said. FBI Agents questioned Hussein in
his home last month after UNR Police told agents the lab intrusions could result
in a bio-hazard situation. But the agents decided within 24 hours that no Federal
Laws were involved.
Hussein said he doesn’t believe that UNR Officials, who are
trying to fire him and prosecute him for discovering the first
hidden camera, are concerned about his safety. He said his experience is proof that the camera
system, or even the phrase “homeland security,” can be used to intimidate employees
who complain about wrongdoing at UNR.
“I spoke out and that’s what is happening
to me,” he said. Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, a member of the
higher education subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee, said the camera
issues at UNR appear to be a “bait-and-switch” situation. She said once the police
camera was unmasked, another camera, supposedly dedicated to the security of the
building’s entrances, quickly took its place.
“I just see a violation of state
law,” she said. “You are not supposed to use cameras to spy on a professor or
anyone else on campus.” She said there are too many coincidences in Hussein’s
case, and UNR officials may be overstepping their authority.
“UNR has no clear
policy governing those cameras and that’s already an issue,” Giunchigliani said.
“I don’t want to jeopardize real security needs, but you can’t use homeland security
as a convenient reason to do anything you want to do.”
Source: rgj.com
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