At Beaver Stadium and other venues, many cameras watch the fans
UNIVERSITY PARK – To Penn State officials, security cameras are vital during football games, when State College becomes the third-largest city in Pennsylvania.
“Stadium cameras? They’re everywhere, because the whole building is a public building,” said Scotty Eble, Penn State’s director of physical security.
There are approximately 63 cameras at Beaver Stadium, but that number is constantly changing, Eble said.
While cameras watch the more than 100,000 people often packed into the stadium, cameras also peer outside the stadium to make sure people who are tailgating are safe, he said.
“Obviously, we do a lot more in the name of security at football games than folks probably think,” he said.
“The folks there are trying to make sure everybody’s safe, and if we see some items that might be suspicious, we can basically take the camera and look back within seconds.
“There’s been a lot of false alarms, but nothing’s been a concrete threat,” Eble said.
Pegula Arena and the Bryce Jordan Center have about 32 cameras each. Medlar Field at Lubrano Park is a special case. Since it is not technically a Penn State building, the university does not monitor it, and Eble said he isn’t sure if there are cameras there.
There are cameras at the check-in desks of the university’s athletic facilities, and cameras are dispersed throughout the venues.
“They allow the university police to know where problems might be,” said Paul Ruskin, business operations coordinator at the Office of Physical Plant.
“If they get a phone call saying that there is a problem at Gate D, they can check on that immediately through the use of cameras. It takes a while to dispatch somebody, so cameras act as a force multiplier,” he said.
“We’re looking for the big stuff and the little stuff,” Eble said.
The cameras are monitored at university police headquarters but are not usually monitored live. Instead, monitoring is done by computer programs, which record and store the information for a minimum of 30 days.
However, when police get a report that something suspicious is occurring, like a fight, police can focus cameras on what they need to see. Also, during events cameras are constantly recording because of the constant movement of fans in the venues.
(This story first appeared in the Centre Daily Times, April 21, 2014)
