Four new security cameras hang in Guilford’s Community Center as a response to at least six acts of vandalism to the building over the last three months. On Dec. 29, Public Safety filed an incident report about forced entry into the game room. This report included one shattered window, destruction of the blinds, and damage to one computer cabinet, which someone attempted to pry open.

This incident is only one of over 15 reported acts of vandalism to the Community Center since its opening in fall 2005. Petty vandalism occurs often in dorms and parking lots around Guilford according to Dean of Campus Life, Aaron Fetrow, but the Community Center is targeted much more frequently. “The Community Center’s been the place where we’ve seen the most concentrated attempts at high-level vandalism,” said Fetrow.

Over $2,000 of Guilford’s funds have been spent repairing and replacing three windows and numerous broken and stolen furniture and gaming equipment. None of the perpetrators of these multiple, separate incidents were ever identified.

Students who use the game room noticed the increased vandalism. “The game console was broken,” said senior Warren Harvey of one occasion when he went to the game room. “The window was broken. We came in here to play (air hockey) and the pucks were gone. I couldn’t believe that!”

“It’s just a constant issue of repairing and spending money on the equipment in there that we got for students,” said Project Manager Rex Harrell. “And I’m sure it’s frustrating to a lot of students to not be able to work on the gaming computers because they keep getting torn into or messed up.”

Consequently, the Facilities Department, Public Safety, and Campus Life discussed and agreed upon the installation of four security cameras, two in the game room and two in the breezeway of the Community Center. The purpose of the cameras is both to deter future crime and to provide evidence if further acts of vandalism should occur.

“Our job is to make sure we have access control and to observe and report anything that is extra-ordinary whether it be breaking and entering, theft, vandalism, property damage, stuff of that nature,” said Security Coordinator Keifer Bradshaw.

The cameras are motion-activated, and Public Safety will only review the cameras’ recordings when a report occurs. “It’s a closed system, so the only time we’re ever going to look at it is specifically if there’s an incident,” Harrell said. “It’s not a surveillance system in the sense of watching the students…other than if there’s a vandalism type of incident.”

Above all else, the cameras are intended as crime prevention devices. “We really, really don’t care about catching someone,” said Fetrow. “We just want it to stop.”

The administration stresses that this is not a “big brother” maneuver to monitor students, but merely a deterrent for vandalism and theft.

“It kind of takes away a little bit of freedom in a way because you always know that someone’s watching, but it’s kind of a give and take thing,” said first-year Michael Simpkins. “If that’s what it takes to make sure that this stuff doesn’t get broken or stolen, then I’d probably prefer to give up that little bit.