95-02-24:  SECURITY CAMERAS FOCUS ON SAFETY

     The new 24-hour video cameras on Grounds are not in the
spirit of "Big Brother," but are meant to enhance security and
deter crime, University Police Chief Michael Sheffield told the
Board of Visitors when they got a tour of the central
monitoring station earlier this month.

Connected to the station in the new parking garage, six
cameras are now used on a limited basis, and are expected to
be fully operational in early March. Cameras are located in
parking lots U1 (below the hospital emergency room) and U4 on
Wertland Street, in the east parking garage, outside the
multi-story building (old hospital) and outside the University
hospital.

The monitoring station will be staffed continuously by a
Community Service Officer (CSO), who has a direct phone line
to 911. If an incident should occur, the CSO can use the camera
to zoom in on the action -- which is automatically videotaped
-- while calling for help. The CSO can then have a
"play-by-play" conversation with the dispatcher, quickly
directing an officer to the scene.

The videotapes also serve as a form of documentation, Mr.
Sheffield noted. The broad sweep of coverage could record
events such as a train accident on the railroad tracks behind
the hospital, or the details of a car break-in. 

"The pictures are better than we anticipated" -- even a license
plate looks very clear on the monitors, he said. This should be
a deterrent to a potential criminal, whose "chance of getting
caught is [now] greater."

The idea came up two years ago as the police department tried
to meet the University's growing needs without the budget for
additional staff, and turned to technology as a solution. Video
monitoring was chosen over card access to buildings in an
effort to keep facilities user-friendly. "It's just a smart way
to do business," Mr. Sheffield said.

The first camera test sites were the U1 and U4 parking lots,
where several problems had occurred in the past. An outside
consultant's security study of the Health Sciences Center
recommended additional camera posts.

There have been setbacks in the project, first with the delay in
completion of the new parking garage, then with getting the
$400,000 station up and running. "You can't just put a camera
on a pole and flip a switch," Mr. Sheffield said. "It was
basically like wiring a small town." U.Va. Computer Systems
Senior Engineer Ken Gravely has collaborated with the Florida
contractor Advantor to work out the bugs in the system.

Future camera locations could include housing areas and
academic sites such as 24-hour computer labs, where
expensive equipment is used.  As buildings such as Newcomb
Hall are renovated, security cameras may be added.

The $70,000 cameras and monitoring equipment will save
money over the long term because additional salaries will not
have to be paid -- similar 24-hour coverage would require five
officers on rotating shifts.

"It will take a couple of years to get where we want to be," Mr.
Sheffield said, but a long-range goal is to have cameras all
around Grounds, with "controlled growth" and the input of
faculty, staff and students. Even with the added security of
cameras, he stressed the need to continue taking personal
safety precautions.

The cameras are in plain view and the areas they cover are
marked with signs. Cameras will not be used to observe
employee work areas without prior notification, with the
exception of police investigations of criminal activity.