Skyline’s decision to install security cameras and other security issues were the topics on hand during a Mar 31 safety meeting. Jose Nunez, district chancellor of facilities, served as key speaker at the Skyline College Open Forum on Public Safety and Security Update and addressed the security issues rising on campus, such as school shootings, car break-ins, sexual assaults and theft.

The presentation was previously given to the Academic Senate, the President’s Cabinet, and the College Council, who all thought it would be valuable to present to the campus.

“All the parties agreed that it would be good to have a time for the public to come and address this subject with any concerns or questions,” said Victoria Morrow, president of Skyline College.

There are no cameras currently monitoring the campus right now, however there should be some in buildings, 3, 6,7A, and 8 by the end of September 2008. When these are put into effect there will be signs posted around campus in the areas that are being monitored, so that it is clear and understood by all who use the campus.

“It’s weird, most people just walk through the halls to get to and from class and stop outside to talk,” said Skyline student Jennifer Wong, 24.

Nunez spoke about consolidating the security between the three district campuses and how to keep all of the schools in contact and up to date with being prepared for any emergencies. In light of the school shootings at Columbine several years ago, Virginia Tech last year, and the Southern Illinois University shootings, there is a need for the campuses to have a standard of how they operate security, and emergency preparedness.

“Skyline does it one way, CSM another, and Canada does it a third why don’t we have similar procedures and policies put in place?” said Nunez.

Putting the cameras on campus will be one way that the schools will be unified in securing each campus. Canada College was the first of the three colleges to use the cameras by using them in building nine in Aug. 2007. Their building has thirteen cameras, some on the inside and the rest on the exterior of the building.

According to Nunez the cameras are not to monitor work habits they are to prevent crime, and provide a safer environment for the students.

“[The cameras are] creating an environment for students to feel safe to report crimes committed, they are a tool for additional information,” said Lori Adrian, vice president of student services.Others feel differently about the security cameras.

“What about the cars at the top of the hill, or a girl who gets harassed by the bus stop, we have all this security, what is going to be done about that?” said Wendy Smith, vice president of the ASSC.

“To some extent it will be a deterrent, fundamentally we are in the same position as law enforcement, if it is not reported, we can’t do anything about it,” said President Morrow.

However, Skyline does currently have a tip line in place where students can call and report a crime anonymously.

According to Chief of Security, Mike Celeste there have been two tips since this was put into effect, and the security team has been actively practicing community policing. Having all the security guards walking around campus, and driving through the parking lots is making them more approachable to students.

“I think [crime] is going to drop on campus as a result of the cameras being put into place,” said Celeste. “We are on time with putting these cameras in; almost anywhere you go in public has cameras.”

The ACAMS (Active Controls and Monitoring Systems) will be used to overlook the entrances and exits to each building, and they will be looking out towards the main quad, and the bus stop, and the parking lots. It is important to know that the cameras do not have the capability to zoom in on a single area such as a computer, and they will not be in offices or classrooms.

“The idea behind it is if there is video monitoring out there 24/7 the theft and other criminal activity will decrease,” said Nunez.

While the regular surveillance cameras will only be able to record action that happens where they are located, there will be other cameras that are meant for specific areas.”If a certain window is broken into then the PTZ camera will be able to catch that,” said Nunez.

PTZ cameras, or pant, tilt, zoom cameras are especially designed to be able to move and observe more than just the area in which they are pointed.

“That’s good, as long as the cameras are not in private areas, like bathrooms” said Skyline student Gina Diangelo, 22.

Along with the security cameras that are going to be on campus Skyline has put in the Carillon system, which is the loud speakers that also work as a clock, ringing the bells every hour, on the hour.

“The little downfall to the Carillon system is the fact that unfortunately it can’t be heard inside some of the building,” said Nunez. “But we are working with the IT people to see if we can come up with some type of interconnection to go with the carillon system with speakers on each of the floors.”

If the speakers are placed inside the buildings the bells would not ring inside, it would only be the voice over if an announcement was made.

“This is a good opportunity for the president or the chief of security to go ahead and make an announcement,” Nunez said.

Also working with the cameras and the Carillon system is the ability for the facilities department to lock down a building or open a building electronically. Currently this is only available in buildings 3, 6, 7a, and 8, which are the ones that should have the cameras installed next semester.

According to Nunez, they can shut down one building, or all four at once, and if they are locked down, no one will be able to enter; however students and faculty would be able to get out in an emergency.

“Probably five years from now we will have that capability for all the buildings,” Nunez said. “Security used to have to go around and open all the doors and security or facilities would have to go around to all the buildings and lock all the doors, this is a simpler and more cost-efficient way of doing things.”

Of course there is the question of if a student needed to get into the building because they are running from danger, as for that Nunez said that is something that the district will have to look into, and for now Nunez believes the cameras and the systems are going to have a huge impact on crime.

These cameras will be able to monitor and record for up to thirty days, and then, if an incident is reported, security will be able to go back and view footage from any of those days.

Some of the major concerns that Nunez addressed such as; who is monitoring the videos, why are they monitoring the videos, and are they going to be turned over to the police?

Nunez said that there were conversations held at the Board of Trustees level, the district level, and the campus level, and if the police request the footage for a specific day they will not be denied.The main server for all of the cameras will be at the district office server room, and security and facilities will have access to the cameras.

“The goal is not to have someone sitting in front of a computer all day watching all of the cameras,” Nunez said. “It is to have a secure environment, to get rid of theft and other criminal activity.”