UI campus police increase use of security cameras

URBANA, Ill. (AP) — Police at the University of Illinois campus in Urbana-Champaign have increased their use of surveillance cameras.

The campus had 13 surveillance cameras in 2008. Now number is at 900 and police hope to increase it to 1,100 by the end of the year. UI Police detective Tim Hetrick leads the department's security camera project. He tells The News-Gazette (http://bit.ly/YGL74w) that the cameras help them solve crimes "that couldn't be solved any other way."

Hetrick says the university has spent more than $2 million on cameras since 2008. Cameras cost between $300 and $3,000 each. Images from the hundreds of cameras are sent to a campus database where they are stored for at least 30 days. Hetrick says the cameras are only used for police purposes.

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Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com