New U Illinois Surveillance System Includes Officer iPod App

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 05/14/10

Police at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign will be purchasing a new surveillance camera management system and outfitting its officers with an iPod app that will give them access to the video images.

The university's Division of Public Safety recently obtained a $100,000 commitment from the chancellor, according to a statement on its Web site, to purchase a "state of the art camera system which will dramatically increase our ability to identify, locate and arrest offenders." The cameras will be placed in locations that historically have had higher crime rates and other areas that might benefit from video security.

The police department also received two large donations totaling $25,000 to purchase iRa C3, a video console application from LexTech Labs. The application lets a user view up to 12 live video feeds simultaneously through a Web interface and up to six feeds on an iPhone or iPod touch through a wireless Internet connection. The donation included a grant from Alex Bratton, a university alumnus and CEO of LexTech.

The company has been working with police at the university to incorporate the vendor's video surveillance into its security infrastructure since August 2009.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • geometric pattern features abstract icons of a dollar sign, graduation cap, and document

    Maricopa Community Colleges Adopts Platform to Combat Student Application Fraud

    In an effort to secure its admissions and financial processes, Maricopa Community Colleges has partnered with A.M. Simpkins and Associates (AMSA) to implement the company's S.A.F.E (Student Application Fraudulent Examination) across the district's 10 institutions.

  • stylized figures, resumes, a graduation cap, and a laptop interconnected with geometric shapes

    OpenAI to Launch AI-Powered Jobs Platform

    OpenAI announced it will launch an AI-powered hiring platform by mid-2026, directly competing with LinkedIn and Indeed in the professional networking and recruitment space. The company announced the initiative alongside an expanded certification program designed to verify AI skills for job seekers.

  • Abstract AI circuit board pattern

    New Nonprofit to Work Toward Safer, Truthful AI

    Turing Award-winning AI researcher Yoshua Bengio has launched LawZero, a new nonprofit aimed at developing AI systems that prioritize safety and truthfulness over autonomy.

  • hooded figure types on a laptop, with abstract manifesto-like posters taped to the wall behind them

    Hacktivism Is a Growing Threat to Higher Education

    In recent years, colleges and universities have faced an evolving array of cybersecurity challenges. But one threat is showing signs of becoming both more frequent and more politically charged: hacktivism.