The Runner Debate: CCTV Cameras Will Make for a Safer Campus

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Security cameras, a new addition to KPU, have the potential to make the campus safer for students, faculty, and visitors. The impact they will have on safety and security will likely be small, but anything is better than nothing at all, and cameras make it more probable that a perpetrator of harassment will be justly convicted.

The university has set out to install the cameras on its campuses for that cause—tthough Surrey is the only one that currently has them installed—and their list of student rights and responsibilities reinforces that.

“Students have a right not to be subjected to harassment, sexual harassment or violence, bullying or discrimination, indignity, injury or violence,” it reads. Unfortunately, just because that right exists does not mean that it is respected.

KPU has seen its own sexual harassment complaints filed this year, with two instances occurring right here on campus. On other university campuses in the Greater Vancouver Area, particularly UBC, harassment has been all the more common. It’s disconcerting that, for KPU students, there would have been no proof of such a crime to show the police.

With that information in mind, it would seem that cases of harassment are relatively uncommon, but it is crucial to consider the percentage of harassers that are actually reported for their offence. As a young woman, I have been harassed on or around campus at least once every month, but have not reported a single incident to the security or police.

For that I have my reasons, and I believe a majority of those who have faced harassment will share these reasons.

The most significant one is that I’m used to it. Being catcalled, leered at, and physically intimidated is a relatively common aspect of my life, and I’m certainly not the only university student to feel that way. When someone does something sexually inappropriate towards me, the chances are high that I’ll shrug it off to avoid conflict and continue on with my day.

Secondly, I know that history repeats itself, and if cops haven’t cared about harassment in the past, they aren’t going to now. All it takes is common sense and a look at how harassment is repeatedly approached to reach that conclusion.

Generally speaking, the law has never even punished rapists deservedly—historically speaking, even murderers of women have not been investigated as thoroughly as they should have been—so harassers are exponentially less likely to be tracked down and disciplined. Consider the time and effort it takes to work with the police, and reporting harassment seems even less worth it.

An extension of that argument is the he-said-she-said aspect of harassment and the fact that there is rarely proof to show authorities. In that way, CCTV cameras on KPU campuses could make a big difference, and for that purpose alone, I believe they are a necessary aspect of security here.

“The CCTV system may be used to help stop an incident from progressing, investigate an incident in accordance with University policies and procedures, and/or prevent future incidents,” according to the university’s External Closed Circuit Television Cameras policy.

It should do that in part, but it will take deep societal change to truly make a difference to the issue of harassment and university culture.