Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

How can we protect students and assets outdoors?

  • By Bruce Czerwinski
  • 03/01/18

Many of the security tools used to protect campus buildings aren’t as effective outdoors. We must think differently about protecting a student walking across campus late at night or guarding assets at remote athletic fields.

Surveillance cameras are a good indoor/outdoor tool. They provide invaluable information for your security team. But when placed outdoors, they need housings to protect them from the elements. Think about using infrared cameras, which are especially good in lowlight areas. Pan-tilt-zoom megapixel cameras provide sharp images of wide areas. But be sure to place your cameras close enough to eliminate blind spots in the coverage. Studies have shown many criminals are deterred just knowing cameras are present. Post signs across campus letting people know they may be under surveillance at any time.

Emergency stations, embedded with video intercoms, immediately connect distressed users with campus security/police. These stations allow two-way conversations, while a camera provides first responders with more information to assess a situation. Bright blue lights make these stations easy to spot at night—even from a distance. They’re always on and, when calls arrive, officers immediately know the station’s location. You can integrate them with surveillance cameras to get a broader view of an area. Emergency stations are available in both tower and wall-mount versions, making them ideal along walking paths, outside dorms, or in parking lots/garages.

There are also lessons to be learned from CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design). Provide adequate lighting along pathways, in parking facilities, and surrounding building perimeters. Keep bushes and trees well-trimmed to deny criminals a hiding place.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management March 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

About the Author

Bruce Czerwinski serves as U.S. general sales manager for Aiphone Corp. He is a 13-year veteran of the company, a manufacturer or security video intercoms. For more information, visit the website at www.aiphone.com/home.

Featured

  • Nashville Elementary School Receives LEED Gold Certification

    Goodlettsville Elementary School, part of Metro Nashville Public Schools in Nashville, Tenn., recently achieved LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), according to a news release. The 81,750-square-foot school opened in 2023 and was designed by Goodwyn Mills Cawood (GMC).

  • Building Beyond Simulation: Creating Immersive Ecosystems for Healthcare Education

    Health sciences education is one of the fastest-growing facility types in colleges and universities. The demand for medical, nursing, and allied health professionals is driving the creation and renovation of medical simulation training facilities that provide students with real-world experience through advanced simulation-based learning.

  • Planning with Clarity: Using AI to Make Better Campus Decisions, Not Just Better Designs

    Higher education leaders are being asked to make increasingly high-stakes decisions about campus facilities amid greater uncertainty than ever before. Social and economic pressures, shifting enrollment, and evolving learning models compete with growing deferred maintenance needs to strain even the most robust infrastructure budgets.

  • University of Pennsylvania Releases Design of Future Physical Sciences Building

    The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in Philadelphia, Penn., recently released renderings of an upcoming 350,000-square-foot Physical Sciences Building, according to news release. The facility was designed by CO Architects and will unite the university’s departments of Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, and Earth and Environmental Science.