by Tara Daniels
Rewinding the tapes at his desk, Stonehill Police Chief Peter Carnes scrunches his nose and adjusts his blue diamond tie. He glances around his crowded office, his eyes darting from his full bookcase, to the Statue of Liberty on the windowsill, to the display of mini American flags on the bookcase near his desk. The papers on his desk are scattered. The phone is ringing, people calling about a case. He is at his computer, emailing another police chief about yet a different investigation.
He glanced back at his computer screen where surveillance cameras show different views from on the campus. The time in the middle of the screen was almost right: the time of the theft a few days prior.
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With 15 new cameras around campus, Carnes and his five officers have eyes on students everywhere. Eight fixed cameras in Lot 17, two cameras at the back entrance to Stonehill’s campus, two cameras on the guard house at the front entrance to the school, one on Corr Hall, one at the Holy Cross Center (aka the Sem), and the last at the Sports Complex.
Since 2007, when 32 people were killed and 25 others were wounded by a student gunman in the massacre at Virginia Tech, the need for tighter campus security has heightened. Stonehill, along with other colleges, has been making strides to make sure students are safe. Students started swiping cards to get into residence halls, security screens were put on ground level windows at residence halls, and more lights were added around campus to improve night security, among other things.
The result has been a safer campus for every student.
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At one in the afternoon, the day after Labor Day, a maroon 1995 Nissan Maxima pulled in the front entrance of Stonehill on Rt. 123. It made its way past the students moving themselves back into their dorms after a long weekend and only stopped once it got to Lot 17. Three men emerged from the car as a security camera caught their every move. One man stood as look out, as the others smashed the passenger window of a student’s Honda.
In less than two minutes, the thieves disconnected the AM/FM radio from the dashboard, snatched a handful of CD’s and a set of jumper cables before hopping back in their car.
Seven minutes after the entering Stonehill’s safe campus, the thieves sped through the back entrance of the school on Rt. 138.
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Three hours later, a father and his daughter, visiting from Ohio, left their rental car in the parking lot behind the Sports Complex. They tucked their wallets under the front seat of their car and left.
When they returned to their car, they retrieved their wallets; $400 was missing. So was the daughter’s high school student ID.
One of the thefts, caught partially on surveillance cameras, helped give clues as to who the suspects were.
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One theft occurs every 46 seconds according to the U.S. Department of Justice and a growing number are caught on tape. There are estimated to be more than three million security cameras across the United States. It is estimated the average person is on camera about 10 times per day. Police throughout the country are using these images captured by security cameras to deter, and in some cases, solve crimes, and the Stonehill campus is no different.
“The fact that the cameras are there, and the fact that there are signs warning people there are cameras…I am of the opinion that people coming here to commit crimes will avoid where the cameras are,” Chief Carnes said.
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Chief Carnes sat at his desk and talks about the events of the Labor Day weekend. The girl from the Lot 17 robbery didn’t know the thieves. The thieves from both cases are still at large.
He sighed and swiveled his chair around to face his computer screen. He moved the mouse to click out of the screen showing him the different views from around campus and he began calling other people and emailing other police chiefs, talking about different cases.
Works Cited:
Police Chief Peter Carnes, interview.
http://www.nycvss.com/stats.html
http://www.princetonreview.com/StonehillCollege.aspx
Works Cited:
Police Chief Peter Carnes, interview.
http://www.nycvss.com/stats.html
http://www.princetonreview.com/StonehillCollege.aspx
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