In recent weeks, the Western Carolina Police Department has been putting up more surveillance cameras around campus to monitor goings on of student life. Or rather, anything that may be out of the ordinary.
Their intent is to be able to see more of what goes on so that they can assure safety. One officer explained that from a centralized location they will be able to monitor more of the campus.
England has had street cameras for years, and they say it has reduced crime, but here in the United States it has been a harder sell. Most U.S. citizens think of their right to privacy as a basic right. Some don’t mind the street cameras, but worry that they may be used to look into a person’s home.
Cities in the U.S. are slowly getting cameras also, many of them funded by Homeland Security. At WCU, the beefing up of security presences has received mixed reactions.
Western Carolina student and receptionist Danielle Cox expresses that “I honestly couldn’t care less about the security system cameras. I can see why they’d be beneficial to people, and why people would see them as an invasion of privacy, but ultimately I think it makes campus safer.”
WCU student and bicycle rider Sam Clinton has similar feelings.
“I really don’t care either way about the security cameras on campus,” said Clinton.
At least one student thought the cameras would be put to good use, but was unsure of the ethical ramifications.
“I think the cameras make it as safer place, but it kind of invades privacy or whatever, but it might not. I guess they want a safer Western Carolina environment, so I guess they’re checking out the students and helping them out by keeping a check on what everyone is doing,” said Levon Curtis, #32, Wide Receiver for the Catamount Football team.
For more information about the new security cameras, contact the WCU police department at 227-7301.