Re: A "physical security" question - "cameras" versus "boots on the ground" - best practices

[David Escalante <david.escalante () BC EDU>]

If the genesis of this question was a concern from campus executives about security, and the "solution" was "cameras", 
then everyone would be well served, however painful it might be, to go back to said campus execs and figure out what 
the question was.  

If it sprang from the Virginia Tech incident, and the intention was to deter active shooters, it's not clear, per an 
earlier reply, that cameras are necessarily effective.  The cameras in London, for example, did a great job of tracking 
all the terrorists with backpacks going into the subway a few years back, but they sure didn't prevent them from 
blowing up the backpacks.  If executives believe they authorized the expenditure of funds to deter active shooters and, 
god forbid, something were to happen, who's going to explain why time and money were spent to deploy cameras versus 
something else after the cameras fail?

If the intention is to catch people committing less deadly acts after the fact, cameras can work great.  But you have 
to be able to store a lot of "tape," and have processes and procedures for who can review it under what circumstances.

If the intention is deterrence, you might want to deploy the cameras differently -- buy big ones and mount them in 
visible locations, instead of say using dome cameras in a ceiling that might blend in with the overhead scenery and not 
deter anyone.

And sometimes "boots on the ground" can equal "the security guard hangs out at the late-night coffee stop about half 
the time, and only patrols the other half..."

No solution is perfect.  Thus the advice from the earlier replies that multiple approaches are best makes a ton of 
sense.  But the key, to me, is to figure out what campus executives' expectations are in this area, or, if unclear, to 
help set those expectations.  Otherwise you've set yourself up for a major fail, even if what you deploy succeeds at 
what it's good at, because what it's good at may not be what was desired.
--
David Escalante
Boston College

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