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News

UHPD adds 8 cameras

Additions now part of 282 units located in parking lots, labs, 
halls and walkways

by JARED BARNES
The Daily Cougar

Eight security cameras have been added to the campus over the course of the semester to increase the UH Police Department's surveillance power.

There are now 282 cameras worth more than $1 million monitoring campus. 

Cameras operate in UH parking lots, exterior walkways, classrooms, college hallways and computer and science labs.

"The cameras are very helpful in deterring crime, but even more important are the signs all over the parking lots letting people know they are being watched, and UH isn't going to be a place where they can get away with something," UHPD Chief Malcolm Davis said. "Having a strong security presence is essential to crime prevention."

UH uses three types of security cameras: license plate, pan-tilt-zoom and fixed cameras.

"License plate cameras monitor parking lot entrances and have their own infrared light supply," Davis said. "If you were to drive in the parking lot without your lights on, the camera can still read your plates. "But in addition to the license plate camera, we have pan-tilt-zoom cameras that we can use to get descriptions of suspicious vehicles we might need to pursue."

Pan-tilt-zoom cameras are powerful enough to read the text of a book that someone is reading in a car, Davis said. 

"Fixed cameras are often in computer and science labs and are helpful in case someone decides to try to walk away with one of the lab computers," Davis said.

All UH security cameras send live videos into the UH virtual patrol room and are watched nonstop by campus police officers.

The virtual patrol room contains three large monitors where an officer can watch live video feeds of one to 36 cameras at a time. In addition to these there are four smaller monitors that can track multiple cameras as well.

Although cameras are primarily used for crime prevention, they can be employed in other arenas, too.

"Math labs use them to proctor tests to make sure no one is cheating," Davis said.

Students concerned about privacy violations should not be alarmed by the presence of the cameras, Davis said.

"The cameras are intended to create the safest environment possible for UH students, not invade their privacy," he said. 

"There are certain places on campus where cameras will never be permitted, like locker rooms, dorm rooms and patient areas in the Health Center." 

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