Secure investments

By Editorial

Amid ongoing bike thefts and the heightened risks that occur when walking around school late at night, the university has been wise by installing more security cameras around campus.

Many (if not most) students likely haven't noticed that upwards of 10 cameras have been installed around campus, with plans to increase that number, according to Philip Beltran of Campus Safety. Beltran says the cameras were set up primarily to preserve the safety of students and faculty.

The risk of theft, as well as actions from sketchy outsiders that roam around campus, are two issues that the cameras strive to deter.

Areas where cameras already exist are the parking garage next to Buck Shaw Stadium and the Benson fountain area. Campus Safety will likely install some in the Mission Gardens as well as the revamped Kennedy Mall (once construction completes).

The cameras should make students feel safer about walking around campus late at night. The cameras operate around-the-clock, with a Campus Safety officer monitoring them at all hours of the day. Any suspicious activity can be transmitted within seconds to any of the four officers that patrol the campus.

This should make those who are leaving, say, the bars or the library after 2 a.m. feel more comfortable walking through campus.

In addition, if someone were to break into a car, the security tape could be turned over to the Santa Clara Police Department in order to solve the crime.

Beltran remembers at least three times when a crime or situation occurred, and authorities went back and used the camera to recreate what happened.

Whatever the crime, the cameras make perfect sense for a school that is planted right in the middle of a residential area. Forget issues of student privacy. The university's plans to install more devices should be welcomed and applauded.

For the amount of money the school pumps into what we believe are questionable projects, investing in security cameras to protect an open campus and its constituents is well merited.