Res. hall security cameras' effectiveness unclear

Wiring the security cameras costs about $20,000 per residence hall.

By Alicia Stice

Published April 30, 2010

*See below for an interactive graphic related to this story.

By the start of next semester, the Department of Residential Life will have spent about $300,000 on security cameras, with the goal to expand the program to all residence halls in the future.

But those plans are being instituted without tracking the cameras' effectiveness at preventing and solving crimes that can cost students money in damage charges. The department has been working to install cameras in every residence hall since 2007. Next fall, six operating halls will not have cameras — Laws, Lathrop, Jones, Johnston, Wolpers and Mark Twain — but they will get cameras upon renovation. Gillett will be equipped with cameras when it reopens in 2011.

Cost analysis

Residents of a community are held collectively responsible for costs resulting from damage in common areas unless a culprit is identified. Residential Life has not recorded how much money, if any, students have saved as a result of the security cameras.

"Part of it is to help students save money in the long run, but part of it increases their feelings and perceptions of safety," Residential Life Director Frankie Minor said. "That's why I think we had such strong support for this, and I don't know how you begin to place a value on people feeling safer."

The cost of implementing cameras in the remaining halls will be an additional $140,000, bringing the total expenditure on the program to about $440,000.

Installing cameras in each residence hall costs about $20,000. That money pays for 16 to 20 cameras, a DVR and installation, Minor said.

Argument for cameras

MU Police Department officers and Residential Life staff can use the cameras to identify suspects when crimes occur in residence halls. The cameras might be a preventative measure against crime, MUPD Capt. Brian Weimer said.

"You have no idea how many crimes they may have deterred by the simple fact that they're there," he said.

Residence halls that had cameras installed experienced a fairly stagnant number of crime, including larcenies and vandalism. College Avenue residence hall, for instance, had a small spike in the number of larcenies and vandalism the year after cameras were installed, but a dip in the same crimes followed.

Minor said his department views the cameras more as a tool for responding to crimes than stopping them but hopes they have preventative benefits.

"We want students to learn a lot here, develop good friendships and grow as people, but the bottom line is safety and security has to be what we provide," he said. "It's a fundamental focus for us and always has been."

Reviewing process

The cameras are motion activated, so if they detect movement, they record higher quality footage. Images are usually stored for about two weeks before being erased to make room for new footage, though the exact amount of time depends on how much activity there is around a given camera.

After crimes occur, MUPD officers and Residential Life staff members can request surveillance footage from the Residential Life information technology staff.

MUPD only deals with footage when a crime is reported and otherwise does not monitor the cameras. In some cases, MUPD sends out a mass e-mail seeking help identifying a suspect; other times, people in the residence hall can identify those responsible from the video, Weimer said.

As of March 24, footage was requested 83 times, or about 30 times a year since 2007. Acts of vandalism and theft are investigated using the cameras more than other types of crime.

Theft is the most common crime in residence halls; between 2007 and 2009, it totaled 28 percent of all reported criminal activity. Video footage was used in two out of four thefts in College Avenue during 2008. In 2009, footage was not requested to investigate any crimes in that hall.

During the last two years, camera footage has been requested in 14 thefts, or 31.1 percent of all larcenies reported to police from residence halls with cameras.

Possession of narcotics was the second most frequently reported crime during 2008 and 2009. Cameras have not been used to investigate those crimes.

When footage of an incident is available, certain factors can compromise the cameras' ability to help identify suspects. If there is a longer time frame when a crime could have been committed, more footage needs to be examined to see images of the incident. Occasionally, the poor quality of the footage prevents investigators from identifying the offender.

"(In) some situations, we can capture images, but the clarity is not that good to help us," Minor said. "A lot of that depends on lighting, weather conditions (and the) direction the person was facing."

Possible expansion

It also matters where a crime occurred. The cameras are typically located at exterior entrances, main lobby areas and basement laundry rooms. The Residence Halls Association passed a resolution in November to request cameras on suite-style floors, but that expansion is not part of Residential Life's plans.

"If there are students that are interested in that, we're certainly willing to sit down and talk to them, understand what their concerns are but the cameras don't solve all issues," Minor said. "Even in situations where we have cameras, there's still going to be instances of vandalism."

The Missouri Students Association has discussed expediting the installation process, MSA President Tim Noce said. Residential Life agreed if MSA could come up with half the funding needed to speed up the process, the department would try to make it happen. Minor said his department is committed to this idea but doesn't have enough information to determine how feasible it is.

"People have been looking into different costs of the cameras and some of them are pretty pricey," Noce said.

It is more expensive to install cameras when a hall is not being renovated, but Noce said financial savings are not the main goal of the cameras.

"The security cameras are there for security," he said. "Saving students money is a secondary reason (to have them) at most. It's not the primary concern for students."