Eight years ago, six webcams were installed around campus by Ohio State's Department of Public Safety. The purpose of the safety initiative, "Eyes on Safety," is to deter campus crime by allowing anyone with access to the Internet to watch online for suspicious activity and report it to the department.
However, over the years, not one call has been made to deter crime captured by the webcams. Though there are possible safety benefits, some people view these webcams as an infringement on a person's privacy. Despite these issues, a new, updated webcam system will be installed by fall quarter.
Rick Amweg, assistant chief of University Police, said that although no calls about suspicious behavior were made because of the original cameras, he knows that the Web site was being watched because the department received complaints when the cameras were temporarily shut down.
He said that since the equipment is outdated, only two cameras, one located outside of Ohio Stadium and one pointed toward the medical complex, are currently operating and available on the department's Web site, ps.ohio-state.edu/index.php.
Amweg said the Department of Public Safety has recently committed funds to update or replace all six cameras fall quarter.
The four cameras that will be replaced include one outside the Knowlton School of Architecture, one looking down the 18th Avenue plaza, one at Mirror Lake and one overlooking the Oval.
Mike Brickner, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, said that although these webcams could help with deterring a few campus crimes, they come at the expense and privacy of thousands of people who walk through campus.
"I think it's a good intention that they're trying to fight crime and make the campus safer," Brickner said. "I'm just concerned that they're casting such a wide net by allowing anyone who has access to the Internet to look at this. It might cause more problems than it's going to solve."
Brickner said that although video surveillance can be helpful, such as when preventing theft in stores, this type of video surveillance also can come with a sense of always being watched.
"Some students may feel a bit safer thinking, 'If somebody breaks into my car, it will be caught on camera,'" said Stephanie Diebold, a freshman in political science and member of the OSU student chapter of ACLU. "But at the same time, the thought of anybody being able to go on the Internet and see what you're doing ... is really unnerving."
Diebold said that she also thinks that the cameras could be abused by people watching and are an infringement on peoples' rights.
She said that she worries about police looking for people committing petty crimes, such as smoking cigarettes too close to a building, and people getting caught by the cameras.
Amweg said that the Department of Public Safety thought about the possibility of people abusing the webcams before they installed them. He said that since the images on the Web cannot be zoomed in or panned around, students should not be worried about strangers watching them.
However, this also makes it hard for police to catch suspicious people.
"I understand the basic concept is to try and catch people breaking the law," Diebold said. "But at the same time, depending on how high-quality the camera is, they may not catch anyone, if they can't see who's in the picture."
Be the first to comment on this article!