Since June 2013, the Peralta Community College District has used a network of 461 security cameras to record activity at Merritt College, Laney College, College of Alameda and Berkeley City College, according to information provided by district spokesman Jeffrey Heyman. “If there’s an issue, we can refer and go back to these cameras that will have a visual record.”Ĭontra Costa wouldn’t be the first community college system in the Bay Area to install security cameras. “For me, health and safety cannot be emphasized enough,” said Gordon, a DVC alumna. ![]() Governing board member Vicki Gordon supports installing cameras, but she also wants answers from staff about the cost and how the video footage will be used and archived. “It would be a concern to rush forward with surveillance cameras on a college campus when there’s so much protected First Amendment activity going on,” he added, pointing to student protests and religious speakers. Student representatives from each campus will participate in the process, and the public will have several opportunities to weigh in on the guidelines at governing board meetings before final approval, according to spokesman Tim Leong.īefore the district buys surveillance cameras, it should openly and publicly debate whether that technology is appropriate and consider alternative security measures such as additional lighting or reallocating police patrols, said Matt Cagle, policy attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California’s Technology and Civil Liberties project.Ĭagle also urged the governing board to adopt an enforceable use policy that spells out how surveillance footage may be used and the types of data that can be collected and establish safeguards for the use of that data. The community college district is developing policies and procedures for the security cameras. “At any given moment, at any given time, anything could happen, and evidence is the best thing around,” said the 20-year-old Concord resident who is transferring from DVC to San Francisco State in the fall. “I don’t really see the point.”īut her friend Adriana Gutierrez, thinks security cameras would make students feel safer. “I wouldn’t mind (cameras) at the child care center, but the parking lots constantly have the DVC police driving around,” Manalastas said. Michelle Manalastas, 20, a second-year DVC student from Concord, thinks the money for the cameras would be better spent on raises for adjunct faculty members. “When you’re outside, you’re in the public and everywhere you go there are cameras.” “How can you have privacy in public?” Gibson asked. But he insists that his department doesn’t intend to become “Big Brother.” He acknowledged, however, that some members of the campus community may raise concerns about privacy, who has access to the video footage and how long police keep it. Gibson believes the cameras will be a deterrent to crime and a useful investigative tool. Los Medanos recorded 141 thefts, and there were 124 at Contra Costa College. ![]() ![]() At DVC, the largest campus where 19,530 students are enrolled this semester, 357 thefts were reported over that three-year period. However, stolen cars, bikes, laptops and car break-ins do occur. The cameras will monitor parking lot entrances and exits, as well as the child care centers on each of the three main campuses, Pyle said.ĭuring the 2011 to 2013 school years, there were no murders or sexual assaults on any district properties, according to crime statistics compiled by its police force. Now, the district plans to spend between $1 million and $1.5 million to install 40 to 60 security cameras at Contra Costa College in San Pablo, Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill and Los Medanos College in Pittsburg the learning centers in San Ramon and Brentwood and the district’s administrative building in downtown Martinez. While it may seem that just about every private place and public space in the country is under video surveillance, the three Contra Costa Community College District campuses remain a nearly camera-free zone.Īlthough there are a few cameras posted at the campus police stations and around areas where cash is handled, the district has taken a scattershot approach to surveillance, making decisions camera by camera, according to Ray Pyle, chief facilities planner. PLEASANT HILL - The very attributes that make college campuses so inviting - open borders and an inclusive ethos - also make them vulnerable to crime.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |