Safety Versus Privacy: Surveillance Cameras on Campus
With surveillance cameras already installed in high-tech
classrooms, campus security is looking to place several more
in student parking lots
Alana Dunn & Martha-Page Ransdell /
Special Projects Editors
Over the past few years, surveillance cameras have been
installed in high-tech classrooms and labs across campus.
Because the cameras have been a successful deterrent for
theft, campus security is looking to expand the use of
cameras by placing them in parking lots as well.
According to Chuck Gantos, chief of Campus Safety and
Police, the initiative for more cameras on campus would have
to come from students, specifically SGA. In order for the
project to move forward, SGA would have to show their support
before campus security could take the idea to the safety
committee for endorsement. Gantos said that the funding for
the project would result in the doubling of the parking fee
from $55 to $110. Because about 3,000 vehicles are registered
on campus every year, the fee increase would provide about
$150,000 per year to put toward the installation of security
cameras. “We’d raise the student fee because the
cameras would be going in student parking lots,” Gantos
said. “We’d lower the fee back down, though, once
the project is complete.”
Most of the cameras already installed on campus are located
in areas that are targets for theft, such as high-tech
computer labs. Small, white and in plain sight, these cameras
are not monitored and they also do not record sound.
“We started installing these cameras when we had a rash
of data projectors stolen,” said Chris Fulkerson,
assistant vice president for Technology. “For the price
of one data projector, we were able to put up several cameras
as a preventive measure.” In computer labs and
classrooms, the cameras always focus on the doors and are
activated by motion. “We don’t want any
professors to feel like the camera is looking over their
shoulders,” Fulkerson said. The cameras record onto a
server and the images are only looked at in the event
something ends up missing. “We mostly get lots of
pictures of custodians cleaning,” Fulkerson said.
The are only four monitored cameras on campus and they are
located in Rhodes Stadium that were installed when the
stadium was built. During athletic events, these cameras
monitor the crowd, but focus on the perimeter of the stadium
the rest of the time. Other cameras on campus are used for
publicity purposes. One camera is situated on the outside of
Alamance looking at Fonville Fountain; another is on the
first floor of the McEwen academic building; several more are
inside campus dining halls. The images from these cameras are
viewable online, and it’s possible for students to
check the lines at the dining halls without actually going
inside. There is also a possibility that a publicity webcam
will be installed for viewers to oversee construction
progress at the new business school. “As far as I know,
we’ve gotten the funding for that webcam,”
Fulkerson said. “It would be great at the opening (of
the business school) to have a video of the building going
up.”
Fulkerson said that there are no current plans to put any
cameras in any dorms. “We like to keep out of
residential areas – that’s just too much of an
invasion,” he said. There is talk, however, of
installing cameras in main student parking lots, including
Moseley Center, Danieley Center, Harper Center, Jordan Center
and other high traffic areas. “There has been a lot of
success at other universities and in store parking lots where
cameras have been placed,” Gantos said. “The
cameras help solve crimes and also act as deterrents. Even
seeing a sign that there is a monitored camera in the area
makes people think twice before they commit a crime.”
Aside from the idea of general safety, Gantos said that
having the cameras would be useful in solving minor crimes,
such as bent or broken car antennas and keyed car doors.
“These types of crimes are extremely hard to solve
unless there are witnesses,” he said. “But with
the cameras, we could go back and look at the tapes and be
able to catch the criminal.”
So how do students feel about cameras on campus? Where is
the line drawn between safety and Big Brother? “I think
it’s really weird that there are cameras in
classrooms,” said sophomore Ruth Maxwell. Freshman
Maggie Griffiths said she didn’t think that cameras are
Big Brother-like if they’re in public places such as
the tech labs and dining halls. “If students
aren’t doing anything wrong, then the cameras
shouldn’t be an issue.” Sophomore Kristin Shaffer
wouldn’t necessarily like to see more cameras on
campus. “It doesn’t seem like we have enough
crime to warrant them,” she said. “It’s so
rare when something happens here, and it’s even rarer
for it to actually be on campus in a place where they would
think to put a camera.”
Gantos said that privacy is the one question that always
comes up when there is talk of security cameras. “The
intended purpose of these cameras is to lower crime, not to
invade privacy,” he said. “We’re not trying
to catch someone drinking a beer in a parking lot.”
Gantos agreed with Fulkerson that putting cameras in
residential areas would be too invasive. However, as for
student parking lots, he compared them to commercial parking
lots. “Most people wouldn’t think about how there
are cameras in the Wal-Mart or Kmart parking lots,” he
said. “In fact, if someone’s car were vandalized,
they’d probably be glad there was a camera to see who
did it. It’s the same thing here. The cameras obviously
won’t put an end to crime – that’s not
going to happen. But they are a great deterrent and I think
they would be a great investment, I really do.”
All three students agreed that additional cameras in parking
lots or along the Danieley tram path might be beneficial.
“Putting cameras in parking lots could definitely help
with car break-ins,” Maxwell said. Sophomore Laura
Hersh said, “There’s nothing (along the tram
paths) and it’s scary to walk alone, even though you
shouldn’t. It would be nice to know that there’s
security out there.” However, Shaffer and Griffiths
thought that cameras alone weren’t enough. “I
think the problem with cameras is that they won’t
prevent certain things from happening,” Griffiths said.
“They’ll simply serve as a tool to use in order
to straighten things out after (something happens).”
Shaffer said she thought better lighting in parking lots
along the tram path would be a better idea. “I mean,
it’s dark in the Moseley parking lot! I can never find
my car at night,” she said. However, Gantos said that
lighting is a completely different scenario and is assessed
separate from security cameras. He said that twice a year, he
and people from SGA, residence life and physical plant walk
the entire campus at night, taking notes on several aspects
of the campus, including lighting. This group of people then
makes recommendations about lighting. “The university
and the town have been very responsive to our
requests,” Gantos said.
Despite differing opinions about installing additional
cameras on campus, the project is at a standstill until
funding becomes available. “We’ve made the
proposal [for more cameras] to SGA before,” Gantos
said. “But it will probably take three to four years
before the cameras would be fully installed.”
Cameras on Campus
- Most cameras are located in unsupervised areas like
computer labs and Rhodes Stadium.
- Other cameras are for publicity, such as in dining halls
and overlooking Fonville Fountain.
- Elon has no plans to put cameras in residential areas
because it would be considered an invasion of privacy.
- Funding has been allocated for a webcam to be installed
overlooking the construction of the new business school.
Contact Alana Dunn and Martha-Page Ransdell at
pendulum@elon.edu or 278-7247.
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Jeff Heyer / Photo Editor
One of the surveillance cameras
overlooking campus, such as this one mounted on the side of a
building.
Jeff Heyer / Photo Editor
Surveillance cameras would be
monitored from the Campus Security office, located in Jordan
Center.
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