Every morning, chaos unfolds in the student parking lot as cars defy one-way signs, swerve into spaces and barely fit within the lines.

This July, 31 new cameras were installed in various parking areas around campus, but centered in the student parking lot. The cameras are located in critical locations including by the entrance of campus, on the service road that leads to the back of the gym and CADC, in the middle and back of the parking lot, and at the back entrance of the school near Wunderlich field.

The decision to install cameras in the lot was a project long in the making. Discussions about installing cameras first began before the pandemic. “The reason why we decided to install cameras is mainly for parking incidents, and because it’s another layer of security,” Director of Security Mustapha Moutri said. 

While accidents are not common in the parking lot, they do happen. For the most part, the accidents are very minor and primarily occur when students are trying to park in a spot and scratch the vehicle next to them. The usual procedure for accidents in general — and on campus — is for both parties to exchange insurance and the insurance companies will take over the case. However, in some cases in the student parking lot, security only receives a report from the person who got their car damaged and is tasked with figuring out who damaged the vehicle.

Prior to the installation of the cameras, it was difficult for security to investigate what happened when students reported accidents. If no one had witnessed the incident, most of the details were left to guesswork. “Before we had [cameras], students and even faculty would come to me and say, ‘someone damaged my vehicle. Can we figure it out?’ And without cameras, there was no way I could go back and check what was going on,” Moutri said.

Junior Amay Srinivasan’s car was hit by another student in the parking lot at the beginning of the school year. Luckily, the student who hit his car let him know immediately and they exchanged insurance information. However, Srinivasan thinks the cameras will be helpful for students in the future. “If I didn’t know who had dented the car, I wouldn’t know what to do and would have had to pay for it myself, so I think there could be value in the cameras,” Srinivasan said.

The cameras in the parking lot are not constantly monitored. However, they are always recording, which allows security to review past footage if someone reports an accident or crime. “I can go back and look at the footage, and figure out what happened. It could be theft, it could be burglary, or it could be car accidents,” Moutri said. 

So far, Moutri hasn’t noticed a significant change in the number of accidents or student behavior since the cameras were installed, but he hopes they will benefit students in the future. “We have a very safe campus, but we added the cameras as another layer of safety and protection for the students and properties,” Moutri said.