Stonehill College Arms Campus with Security Cameras for Increased Safety

Stonehill College‘s security camera strategy has been an on-going phase since 2009. Today, the campus is host to a variety of security cameras that help the college’s police team monitor the campus 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Installing security cameras throughout the campus helps Peter Carnes, Chief of Police at Stonehill College, do his two most important jobs every day: keeping the college’s 2,500 students and staff of 500 safe, and preventing incidents on campus.

“Security cameras deter events,” Carnes says. “You walk into your local CVS pharmacy and you see your face on the security camera screen. This sends a subliminal message that you’re [being watched].”

Balancing public information and students’ privacy

The college’s police team uses security cameras to monitor large areas such as the campus quad where students gather during the school year and the parking lots, where the ability to zoom in on license plates with security cameras is important.

The focus with security cameras is primarily on the exterior areas surrounding residence halls and academic buildings, roadways, parking lots along the perimeter of the campus, and public gathering places.

The campus’s security cameras are also located in the hallways outside computer labs, in areas where students store their backpacks, and near the fitness center.

However, Carnes says that the college is mindful of the need to balance security with the privacy needs of everyone on campus.

He says that Stonehill College’s security camera system includes a privacy feature for cameras that capture footage adjacent to resident halls; these cameras block accidental views of the insides of these buildings.

“We want to respect everybody’s privacy,” Carnes says. “Any place where people have the expectation of privacy, we don’t have cameras. That’s common sense; it’s also the law.”

Best Practices For Security Camera Deployment

Select the best software to supplement the cameras

Carnes says other security personnel can use OnSSI Ocularus software at their desks to monitor footage from the security cameras. The software allows the police team to have as many as 60 different views.

For the Stonehill College campus, Carnes has found that the best solution is to deliver four 2″ x 2″ views on security personnel’s computers.

The college has also sourced security camera technologies from Axis Communications North America and Siemens USA.