Jeff State grant to purchase video surveillance network

Published 12:57 pm Thursday, March 19, 2009

At Jefferson State Community College this fall, a pair of eyes may be watching over you.

The college has received a $100,000 federal grant for a video surveillance system that will cover all five Jeff State campuses. The system will have a central monitoring station that will be staffed at all hours.

Spokesperson David Bobo said while Jeff State is already very safe, the system will enhance the efforts of campus police.

“Security and safety of students at Jeff State is top priority,” Bobo said. “That’s just something that’s extremely important to us.”

Jeff State officials applied for the grant in January. Bobo said the college hopes to receive the grant funds early this fall. As soon as the funds are available, the surveillance system will be purchased and installed.

Bobo said someone already on campus police will be in charge of keeping the surveillance system staffed. The surveillance system may help save money by cutting down on long-term costs of hiring more people to patrol the campus, he said.

“If anything, it’ll make it where you don’t need more people,” he said. “If you have a video surveillance system, you’ll be able to have eyes around campus.”

Bobo said the video surveillance system would provide a way for campus security to respond quickly to crimes.

“If you can see a crime happening, you’re probably going to be able to react quickly to that,” he said. “Also, it’ll provide a video record. A lot of times, that can be evidence to prove a certain individual has committed a crime.”