After actually realising just how much we are watched on campus, it is somewhat interesting to see how little people actually know about the amount of surveillance that goes on at school. It seems to be that preconceived notions of what we are used to is forming our understanding of surveillance wherever we go.
Going into this project, I completely overestimated the amount of cameras that there actually are. I do take notice whenever I look up and see cameras around campus, however the opposite is not true. I never really spent time looking around, trying to find out where cameras are supposed to be.
While Santa Clara may be a very quiet town, and not very prone to crime, it is still interesting to note the psychology that makes us think that there are cameras.
According to my survey, 55% of people had a very strong opinion on the presence of cameras in Benson. I am going to guess that most of the people that answered “does more harm” or “does more good,” thought that there were a lot more cameras in Benson than in actual fact. I feel that from this evidence, I am able to conclude that people project cameras into places where they actually aren’t, and that they only are reinforced in their beliefs when they do see cameras around campus.
What is also interesting to note, is the overwhelmingly support for the current amount of cameras on campus. If people are creating their own ideas of what the current state of video surveillance is, and they are supportive of their unrealistic ideas, are they not creating a false sense of security for themselves?
I can most certainly attest to the fact that I have been too trusting in the past, relying on the fact that security cameras are “protecting me.” Coming from a very small Connecticut town, where residents are concerned about the “13 domestic abuse cases every year” and where car doors are kept open with the keys in the ignition, I have grown up feeling very secure.
This has resulted in some very unhealthy habits, and I think that at school I too have developed a false sense of security. Just recently I would leave my laptop and mouse sitting out in the media lab while working on a movie project. I felt that since there was a camera in the room monitoring me it should be fine to go get an iced chai and a snack. Just looking up and seeing a camera instantly made me feel more secure, and made it a lot easier for me to rationalise making a really reckless decision. I now know that the camera in the media lab does not work, and had my laptop been stolen, I would be out of luck, cause there is a very small chance that I would ever see it again or catch the thief.
So here is the moral of the story: be very wary of how much you actually are being watched. I thought that I was going to find through this project that I was being watched much more than I should be, but it turns out that instead, I discovered that the real problem is ignorance, and false senses of security created by people when they are surveilled. I hope that by reading this blog I have made you more aware of your surroundings, and made you more able to appreciate the real meaning of surveillance.
A Story In Which Cameras Were Used in a Rather Questionable Manner
Late in the Fall quarter, a good friend of mine, for purposes of storytelling, “Average Joe”, was written up for possession of alcohol. He had, hidden in his room, bottles of hard alcohol, much like many other underage students at Santa Clara and at colleges around the nation.
Now, while I am not condoning underage drinking, I would like to call into question the methods that Campus Safety used in implicating of Mr. Joe.
Here is the story:
One Friday night, Joe was sitting in his room, free of the influence of any beverages, when he got a knock on the door. It was a friend from his high school. Standing behind him were his friends who had with them bags that made really loud clinky noises. Joe’s friend asked to come on in with his friends, Joe of course allowed them into the room, where they stayed and chatted.
After a few minutes the friends decided to leave with their backpacks, shortly thereafter followed by Joe’s friend who went down the hall to the room that his friends had just gone into. Unfortunately for everyone, Joe’s friend was followed down the hall by a Campus Safety officer (who, by the way, had sprinted up the stairs with his bike in pursuit of the group, no small feat).
The room that everyone had gone into was promptly opened up, and everyone was written up and given high-risk violations. However, Joe was greeted by a knock on his door about 15 minutes later by the same Campus Safety officer, who introduced himself with, “So, where’s the alcohol?”
Joe was very rather confused, seeing as he hadn’t been drinking, or acting criminally, this kind of introduction was one that was rather unexpected. The officer had apparently seen Joe’s friends, on camera, loading up bags with bottles of beer, go into Swig Hall, and enter Joe’s room. Assuming that Joe had gotten alcohol from them, he wasn’t all too surprised to find, hidden under his bed, a bottle of Southern Comfort and some Rum.
Now, while Joe had been illegally keeping alcohol in his room, he had fallen victim to a rather unfortunate coincidence. Now, while he was in the wrong, a case like this just goes to show how easy it is to misconstrue things.
In Joe’s hearing, he was shown footage, and was questioned about it, and even asked to identify other people in the video. Legally, Campus Safety has every right to go into anyone’s room they want and search it, however, there are some ethical issues that can be brought up if their power starts to be abused.
In all of the stories that I have heard, it seems to be that there really aren’t cases where Campus Safety overstepped their boundaries. While it might make the story a little bit more interesting if there were rampant cases of police abuse going on on-campus, it is a very refreshing to know that they seem to be doing a pretty good job.
Now, while I am not condoning underage drinking, I would like to call into question the methods that Campus Safety used in implicating of Mr. Joe.
Here is the story:
One Friday night, Joe was sitting in his room, free of the influence of any beverages, when he got a knock on the door. It was a friend from his high school. Standing behind him were his friends who had with them bags that made really loud clinky noises. Joe’s friend asked to come on in with his friends, Joe of course allowed them into the room, where they stayed and chatted.
After a few minutes the friends decided to leave with their backpacks, shortly thereafter followed by Joe’s friend who went down the hall to the room that his friends had just gone into. Unfortunately for everyone, Joe’s friend was followed down the hall by a Campus Safety officer (who, by the way, had sprinted up the stairs with his bike in pursuit of the group, no small feat).
The room that everyone had gone into was promptly opened up, and everyone was written up and given high-risk violations. However, Joe was greeted by a knock on his door about 15 minutes later by the same Campus Safety officer, who introduced himself with, “So, where’s the alcohol?”
Joe was very rather confused, seeing as he hadn’t been drinking, or acting criminally, this kind of introduction was one that was rather unexpected. The officer had apparently seen Joe’s friends, on camera, loading up bags with bottles of beer, go into Swig Hall, and enter Joe’s room. Assuming that Joe had gotten alcohol from them, he wasn’t all too surprised to find, hidden under his bed, a bottle of Southern Comfort and some Rum.
Now, while Joe had been illegally keeping alcohol in his room, he had fallen victim to a rather unfortunate coincidence. Now, while he was in the wrong, a case like this just goes to show how easy it is to misconstrue things.
In Joe’s hearing, he was shown footage, and was questioned about it, and even asked to identify other people in the video. Legally, Campus Safety has every right to go into anyone’s room they want and search it, however, there are some ethical issues that can be brought up if their power starts to be abused.
In all of the stories that I have heard, it seems to be that there really aren’t cases where Campus Safety overstepped their boundaries. While it might make the story a little bit more interesting if there were rampant cases of police abuse going on on-campus, it is a very refreshing to know that they seem to be doing a pretty good job.
The Most Watched Building On Campus.
The Leavey school of business has the most cameras on the interior and exterior of any building on campus. When I first visited the school, I assumed that this was because it was a new building, and that Santa Clara wanted to start implementing more security cameras.
I was able to actually sit down and talk with the building manager for the Leavey building, and there actually are a few very interesting legitimate reasons behind the amount of security compared to the rest of the campus.
When the building was still under construction, the school got a little bit ahead of themselves and started to move in some furniture before their camera infrastructure was all set up. This, very unfortunately, resulted in the stealing of chairs over the course of about a week. These were no ordinary chairs though. The school splurged on some really nice ergonomic chairs that ran in the ranges of $100-$1000 each. Thieves ended up getting away with $20,000 worth of furniture. Yes. Furniture. Isn’t it just great hearing about how well your tuition is being spent?
Anyways, this heist isn’t the only reason behind the cameras. The building, most likely due to its location on the edge of campus, sees a lot more unwelcome visitors when compared to other buildings on campus. Whether it is homeless people coming in and trying to take food, or inebriated students attempting to vandalise the building after a night out in the hut, the building seems to be much too inviting to people who do not belong there.
In order to combat all of this, there are (at least) four cameras on the ground floor, and then three on the second and third floors. There are cameras pointed at all of the entrances and exits, stairwells and study rooms.
So, is all of this security necessary?
Well, in this journalist’s opinion, yes, very much so. To be honest, I really thought that the level of security present in the business school was the norm around campus. Now that have gone and done some investigation of my own, I can safely say that the cameras are being put to good use. While it may be very easy for the cameras to be abused, I feel that their increased presence in the business building is necessary. I was really expecting the most watched building on campus have a lot of cameras looking in really odd places, however, it seems to be as though every placement is well thought out and quite logical.
I was able to actually sit down and talk with the building manager for the Leavey building, and there actually are a few very interesting legitimate reasons behind the amount of security compared to the rest of the campus.
When the building was still under construction, the school got a little bit ahead of themselves and started to move in some furniture before their camera infrastructure was all set up. This, very unfortunately, resulted in the stealing of chairs over the course of about a week. These were no ordinary chairs though. The school splurged on some really nice ergonomic chairs that ran in the ranges of $100-$1000 each. Thieves ended up getting away with $20,000 worth of furniture. Yes. Furniture. Isn’t it just great hearing about how well your tuition is being spent?
Anyways, this heist isn’t the only reason behind the cameras. The building, most likely due to its location on the edge of campus, sees a lot more unwelcome visitors when compared to other buildings on campus. Whether it is homeless people coming in and trying to take food, or inebriated students attempting to vandalise the building after a night out in the hut, the building seems to be much too inviting to people who do not belong there.
In order to combat all of this, there are (at least) four cameras on the ground floor, and then three on the second and third floors. There are cameras pointed at all of the entrances and exits, stairwells and study rooms.
So, is all of this security necessary?
Well, in this journalist’s opinion, yes, very much so. To be honest, I really thought that the level of security present in the business school was the norm around campus. Now that have gone and done some investigation of my own, I can safely say that the cameras are being put to good use. While it may be very easy for the cameras to be abused, I feel that their increased presence in the business building is necessary. I was really expecting the most watched building on campus have a lot of cameras looking in really odd places, however, it seems to be as though every placement is well thought out and quite logical.
Photo Gallery!
Today I went around campus and took photos of all the cameras that I could find in four hours. While I was on the hunt for cameras, I stopped and talked to some people, and I ended up learning a lot about the subject of surveillance. Here is the result. Please take a look at all of the photos and comments on them.
What definitely interested me the most was how overestimated security was by some people. For instance, I talked to someone at the desk in Benson about how many cameras there were in the building. After searching around on the ground floor, I was finding it very difficult to spot a single camera. However, according to the employee at the desk, "there are definitely cameras around here, I don't know where they are, but there's one in front of the entrances and around the café."
This lead to more confusion and frustration on my behalf, as I searched around Benson, from the basement to the top floor I was having trouble finding cameras. I finally found and asked a friend of mine who happens to work at the same desk, but in a much higher position. He said that in fact there is only one camera, down in the basement in the mail room. The sole purpose for this camera was due to the fact that stealing mail is a federal offence and whatnot.
I went down and asked the people there a few questions; they don't seem to mind the cameras, but they do feel that it is really odd that they are the only ones with cameras in the building that sees the most students daily.
Concerning the Previous Mentioning of Bikes
I finished my last blog post talking about bikes. Interestingly enough, I have a story for you readers, courtesy of a girl who responded to my survey. She says that her bike was stolen from the Bellarmine parking lot, however when she went to campus safety, they decided not to go through with reviewing camera footage. Obviously that would be pretty annoying. Seeing as there are cameras in the lot specifically put in to prevent and identify thieves, it is a little bit odd that Campus Safety wouldn't take a look at the footage.
However, in this situation you have to think about what looking at "the footage" actually means. I'm guessing that her timeframe for when it was stolen was probably at least a few hours, if not, days. That's a pretty long time period, and allocating the resources to look at that footage is a lot more difficult to do than TV shows like 24 would have you believe. Even though they may save video feeds from their cameras, the amount of time it would take looking at the footage is too much for Campus Safety apparently.
A Story Concerning Cameras Being Used For Good
I remembered talking to my CF a little while back about a case where there was a sexual assault that was stopped in Swig with the help of cameras. Here's how it happened:
A girl who had been with a new guy friend that she met one night out partying had suddenly disappeared. Her friends felt that something wasn't right, called up campus safety, who for some reason started to get worried. Campus Safety ended up getting involved, and for some reason, started to move around the camera on the side of Kennedy, until they zoomed in on a room where they could very easily see a physical altercation going on. Fortunately campus safety was able to get to the girl without anything really bad happening. While some of the starting details may be a little bit shaky, from the two people that I interviewed, the second half of the story seems to be right. I'm not really sure what lead up to the decision to start looking into rooms with a camera, but it seems to have worked really well.
I went to the Kennedy Commons, and I looked around outside for this fabled camera, and was quickly able to find it, sitting on the top corner of the patio:
If it was able to be moved around, and zoomed in far enough to look into someone's room, I have to imagine that there are a lot of ways that this particular camera could be easily abused. However, as I think it would be very difficult to go about proving it, I am going to have to stick to speculation on the subject. Assuming that Campus Safety isn't going to be browsing through your rooms on a regular basis, I think that this camera probably has a good purpose. There are lots of bikes that are locked up outside of Swig, and I have to imagine that just once in a while bikes are taken without permission, and the camera is there to deter that theft/possibly identify the thieves. Lets just hope that that is all that they are doing.
The Results Are In
For my survey I received a huge amount of support, there were over 50 people that responded, and I even got a few lengthy responses in my optional short response section!
From my three questions here were the responses:
To me, it seems to be that the general consensus is that everyone is really comfortable with the camera situation right now. To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect with this survey, but the results seem to say that people are either fine with the cameras, or that they don't really care to pay attention. If there is anything, I would have to say that I was most surprised by how comfortable people were. In all of the places that I asked about, except for in residence halls, everyone seemed to overwhelmingly think that they were really good. I was somewhat expecting there to be more of a mixed opinion of the subject, but apparently everyone is rather trusting of the people on the other side of the monitor.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
