WEDNESDAY, JULY 19,2006
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3
SAFETY
Big Brother's watching you
Campus cameras allow Public Safety Office employees to help ensure students' safety
BY TOM SLAUGHTER
tslaughter@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
In light of violent crimes that have occurred in recent years in downtown Lawrence, including shootings at It's Brothers! Bar and Grill, 1105 Massachusetts St., and The Granada, 1020 Massachusetts St. Downtown safety issues and surveillance cameras were the forefront of discussion during a public city meeting last week.
The University of Kansas, however, has used surveillance cameras for more than a year, and officials within the University believe that the cameras have a positive effect on the safety of its students.
Mascha Khramova, Russia graduate student, said she thought the security cameras were a good idea if it made students feel more secure, particularly at night. When asked if she ever felt unsafe at night, Khramova gave a succinct response.
"Actually, yeah," she said.
Khramova added that both the University and Lawrence could use better lighting.
Ralph V. Oliver, chief/director of the KU Public Safety Office, said the University considered installing surveillance cameras for several years and came to the decision that they were necessary.
Two violent crimes that occurred on campus, within the approximate span of a year, led them to expand upon the concept they were considering.
Two years ago, a car was hitjacked in the parking lot of the GSP-Corbin Hall. The following year, a female was held at knife-point in the parking lot of the Lied Center.
These incidents forced the
University to consider taking more precautions, particularly in parking lots and residence halls. Thus, cameras were added.
"People should feel safe to come and go to their residence halls, including visitors, without fear," Oliver said.
Vince Avila, associate director for housing maintenance, agreed that the cameras were a good idea. He said he hasn't received feedback endorsing or disclaiming the use of cameras, but he doesn't think the idea of privacy is an issue in this case.
"I don't think the privacy part of it has been brought up because they're exterior and they don't point to any windows in the halls," Avila said.
In the city meeting last week, William G. Staples, professor and chairman of the department of sociology, didn't say his opinion on the use of cameras, but
merely warned the city of some of the problems associated with their usage that has been found through research.
He said often cameras are not good for preventative measures.
When people monitor cameras on closed-circuit televisions, they do so from far away and often do not understand the situations they are watching, because they don't have the benefit of hearing what is happening, cited a study conducted in United Kingdom, Staples said.
However, he added that they could be useful in apprehending suspects after events have happened.
Oliver said the Public Safety Office employs approximately 20 students to watch the closed-circuit televisions. The office
SEE CAMERAS ON PAGE 6
Joshun Bickel/KANSAN
A security camera keeps watch over campus from the northeast corner of Memorial Stadium. Many areas around campus, including GSP-Corbin and Parking Lot 90 next to the Student Recreation Center had cameras installed to increase campus safety by the KU Public Safety Office.