Smile! You’re on CCTV

By ANTONIETTE PEMBERTON

You are being watched–while shopping, entering the subway, and even in movie theaters. Now you can add City College to the list. CCNY has launched CCTV.

CCNY has installed 14 cameras in undisclosed areas throughout the campus to monitor areas not secured by an employee of the Public Safety department, according to George Crinnion, assistant director of Public safety. There are 54 exit doors on campus. The CCTV system allows security officials to watch the exits of the building that cannot be staffed with people.

The campus doesn’t “have fences,” Crinnion said. “The public walks through here all the time.”
With increased college violence throughout the nation and City College’s own gun incident occurring last spring semester, in which a student entered the Administrative building and held a female student captive, City College has heightened its security presence on campus. In addition to closed caption television cameras, the college has posted guards at additional areas, such as in front the Financial Aid office and throughout the North Academic Center.

Students expressed mixed views over having to balance security with personal privacy.
Some CCNY students said they felt unsettled to have another aspect of their lives under surveillance. “That’s excessive security,” says Shantavia Inabinet, 26 a City College senior. ‘Where do you draw the line at privacy.”

Despite the public academic atmosphere on campus many of the students say they feel safe on campus.

It’s a “good idea,” say Omar Nasar, 19 a City College sophomore, but “keep it external, not on campus. We show ID everywhere.”
CCNY’s campus is available to students, faculty and the public it spans 34 acres and houses 15 buildings, which support the 14,536 students, according to the statistics from The City College “City Facts,” office of Institutional Research. The public safety department has the challenge of maintaining a safe environment for students and faculty.
With increased college violence throughout the nation and City College’s very own occurring during the spring 2008 semester in which a student entered the Administrative building and held a female student captive, there’s a heightened security presence on campus, with guards posted at additional areas, such as in front the Financial Aid office and throughout the North Academic Center. Although, it is a public academic atmosphere many of the students feel safe on campus, however, it is unsettling to the students of the CCNY community to have another aspect of their lives under surveillance. It’s a “good idea,” says Omar Nasar, 19 a City College sophomore “keep it external, not on campus, we show id everywhere.”
The City University of New York (CUNY) implemented “CUNY Alert,” where students are notified through text messaging in the event of an emergency, CCTV, is another security measure that will assist in providing a safe community for CCNY students and faculty. There are cameras located at various locations throughout campus. The staff of the public safety department will continue to ask students for identifications cards when entering buildings on campus and they will inquire when something doesn’t seem right in an effort to maintain safe environment on campus. “I love the fact that it’s a public campus, you’re not secluded,” says Stefanie Aguirre, 23 City College senior, “and not in a bubble speaks very much to the nature of New York.”