Stephens’s students have been anticipating the arrival of security cameras on campus since last semester when it appeared as one of the many reasons to love Stephens. Students expected the cameras to appear once they returned to campus in the fall, but when they arrived, they saw otherwise.

Director of Security Tony Coleman said system contractors have been on campus for the past three weeks, installing and preparing to install the extensive wiring these new security cameras require before installation.

Coleman said that students can now visibly seen some of the dome camera’s that have already been installed.

“Some of the camera’s are already up around Searcy and Prunty,” Coleman said.

Although brackets are up for some of the bigger cameras to be installed, but it will be a few weeks still before all cameras are up and running.

“Nothing is active yet. Nothing will happen until all cameras are set up and we have all the other equipment we need to set up,” Coleman said.

Coleman expects that all 21 cameras will be up and running when student’s return from holiday break. He says that this will be a great enhancement to the security system and procedures.

Coleman wants to reiterate that no security cameras will be installed inside the residence halls. Instead, they will be installed in the surrounding areas.

“The whole design of the cameras is to enhance the security on campus,” Coleman said. “The areas we have tried to cover from a security standpoint is the areas we are most vulnerable.”

Coleman and the other security officers are excited to see this improvement to campus security.

“It’s a great enhancement for the entire campus community. We will be able to capture and document the outside activity that may pose as a threat. We haven’t been able to do that before,” Coleman said.