Controversy over security cameras

"Big Brother is watching," remarked one student when the topic of cameras being installed in the entrances of certain dorms on the Assumption College campus came up in a casual conversation recently. The news that the College is thinking of installing cameras inside a handful of dorms for next year has quickly become a hot topic of conversation among many students around the school and has jokingly been referred to as CameraGate, in honor of Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots "SpyGate" drama. The plan calls for entranceway cameras in Plough, South, West and the LLC. Opinions range from staunch support of the new measure to ultimate disdain for the proposed plan. In an age of increased government presence intruding on the private lives of citizens, this may seem just another attempt by the powers-that-be to assert their control and presence among the student population at Assumption. With college funding going to increased police patrols and now the installation of cameras, many students worry that Assumption is quickly becoming a place where the students are no longer trusted and their privacy is intruded upon. Whether or not this is true, I feel that the cameras may in fact serve some good for the community.

An important aspect of this plan is the actual function the cameras would be serving. The proposed plan is not simply a feeble attempt by those in charge to control our lives as students at Assumption College. My reasoning for this belief results from the fact that these cameras would be installed in order to offer another layer of support for the Assumption College police in preventing crimes from happening on campus. Though some may be skeptical, these cameras will in fact serve the purpose of keeping the students safe on campus by keeping an eye on events going on around the entrances to buildings. These cameras would give the police a point of view they would not normally have had in previous circumstances.

"When would the cameras ever have to be used?" some students have asked. Most likely, and hopefully, they will never have to be used to fulfill their purpose in any extreme circumstance. However, an incident reported on the Assumption Public Safety webpage details a situation where an unnamed male attempted to get into a building posing as a "maintenance worker." In situations such as this, these cameras would be useful in capturing an image of the aforementioned person and hopefully lead to a subsequent arrest. Also, some incidents have arisen on weekend nights where desk workers have had trouble with students and guests; incidents have occurred where those responsible acted in a hostile manner, but have been able to leave before anything could be done. In situations such as these, cameras would have provided a useful tool for helping to identify anyone responsible for unwanted behavior.

Although I feel that the cameras could be a benefit for the police serving the Assumption College community, I also would like to look at the proposed plan from a realistic point of view. While the cameras would be in the entranceways of certain buildings in order to prevent crime from occurring, I feel that the administration may be relying too much on the hope that any crimes or wrongdoing will be done precisely where the cameras are located. Looking at the Annual Security Report on assumption.com, most of the crimes, including burglary, occur in areas inside buildings where the cameras do not have any presence. While some offenses may occur right outside the entranceways to buildings or just inside, I am wary of the actual effect that these cameras will have in practice. Perhaps their best role will be in deterring crime merely because of their presence, but I do not know if that constitutes the need for the cameras. Just to be clear, I am not suggesting installing cameras further inside buildings as I feel the entranceways are the farthest cameras should be placed. After all, Assumption is a college, not a maximum security prison and the students are not mindless crime-committing machines.

Whatever your belief on the right of the College to place cameras in the entranceways of buildings, should they serve the intended purpose and provide the police with assistance in the investigation of any problem that should arise; I feel that they would have been worth it. Despite this feeling, I hope that measures such as this to increase "security" on campus do not become the norm in new policies for the administration, as funds used for these could also have been used elsewhere on campus. One suggestion I do have for the administration to possibly implement would be to include the students more in the discussion and information about policies such as these that will affect us. Many students do not know any of the specifics and there has been relatively little information given to non-SGA students about the proposed plan even though we make up more of the student population. Either way, the next few weeks should provide more details as to the fate of the proposed camera plan. Many look forward to seeing the outcome.