The University Police Department (UPD) at Texas A&M University-Commerce is currently working on updating the security measures across campus with a new infrastructure that would link all the security cameras to one network.
According to crime information officer Jason Bone, there are already about 100 cameras strategically placed in areas such as the Sam Rayburn Student Center, Prairie Crossing and the Morris Recreation Center.
“It’s going to put in a centralized system to take control of all the cameras we have now,” Bone said. “We’re laying out the infrastructure for future cameras. This will make it cheaper for departments to add future cameras.”
One of the main reasons UPD is working on this project is to make reviewing video more efficient. UPD Sgt. Kyle Lowe said he works with a minimum of four different recording systems across campus the way they are set up currently.
“I’m having to go on site to review video,” Lowe said. “The systems that we currently have make it tough to view video in a timely fashion. It takes me a third of a day to view a full day [of video].”
By updating to a network-based digital recording system, Lowe said it would allow him to pull up video from a server in his office and let him work on other cases at the same time.
“It should speed things up immensely, drastically for us,” he said. “This is just the beginning. Once we can get other cameras put in, maybe we can get some cameras in parking lots.”
The infrastructure, which Bone said he hopes will be complete by the spring semester, would make it easier for departments to add cameras with live-monitoring capability to the network. Departments would only have to pay for the cost of the camera and install the device to have network capability.
“The beauty of it is, say next year we’re having a huge amount of thefts; the cameras can be up and running in no time,” Bone said.
Bone said the updated infrastructure is not necessarily in direct response to the recent thefts of various electronics and other valuables on campus, nor to arrests of three Honors College students in September in connection with the thefts.
“This has been in the works for a long time,” he said. “We’ve been requesting cameras off and on for the last ten years.”The students charged for the thefts all worked for the university in some capacity, which forces into the question the security policy regarding student workers. President of A&M-Commerce, Dr. Dan Jones, said he did not think the problem was with the policies.
“We depend on student workers, and we want to continue to recruit and hire student workers,” Dr. Jones said. “We will also look at the security protocols we have in place.”
In regards to security on campus, Dr. Jones said the university is constantly looking to improve, review and update its protocols, which is evidenced by the upgrades to the security camera infrastructure.
“Hopefully this will be a learning experience to prevent these types of thefts from happening in the future,” Dr. Jones said.
The thefts case is still under investigation, and Bone said they anticipate making a fourth arrest soon.