(Spencer Eggers/ The Daily Campus )

With multiple crime reports about car break-ins and damages incurred to vehicles, SMU Police Department is busy tracking down offenders. To many students’ discouragement, most cases are left unresolved because the police do not have enough evidence to incriminate possible perpetrators. 

The lack of sufficient security raises a question: What is SMU doing to ensure the safety of students’ cars on campus?

In the fall of 2006, SMU revamped it’s video surveillance system throughout campus.  The current system used on campus is called Video Insight.  It is a more secure, trustworthy system that runs from one central dispatch station, which is able to readily access the one hundred video surveillance cameras throughout campus, according to the SMU PD.

Parking garages, the Cox School of Business building and the Meadows School of the Arts building are just a few of the locations equipped with Video Insight surveillance equipment. 
According to the SMU Police Department’s reports on SMU’s Web site, crime has significantly reduced since the implementation of this new system. 

While the new camera system has proved somewhat successful, some still question the effectiveness of the positioning of the video surveillance cameras. 

Recently, an unknown offender hit SMU student Landon Owen’s parked car in the Moody Parking Garage, and left false contact information. When Owen reported the accident to SMU PD, they informed him that it would be difficult to identify the perpetrator because the video surveillance cameras are only located at the entrance and exits of the garage.

A number of other students have also experienced unsolved crime incidents due to the lack of proper video surveillance. Sophomore Ross Miller is one of them. An unknown perpetrator keyed Miller’s car in the Airline Parking Garage. 

“It’s the most frustrating thing knowing that people can get away with stuff like this,” Miller said.

One of the many perks of Video Insight is that it can be improved upon.  New cameras are frequently added around campus to new buildings and parking garages. 

Freshman Ally Fields is relieved by SMU safety measures.

“I feel better knowing that our campus is taking action to make sure its students are kept safe,” said Fields.

SMU plans to expand this system to more buildings, including the new George W. Bush Presidential Library. 

The Insurance Council of Texas offers suggestions to prevent crime.  Tips from its three-step prevention method are: “Lock your car. Take your keys. Hide your belongings.”
For more safety tips, visit www.insurancecouncil.org.