Ball State University is installing surveillance cameras in Scheumann Stadium and Carmichael Hall's parking lots in an effort to improve campus safety.
Electrical engineer Jack Willis said 12 surveillance cameras will be installed in the parking lots.
There will be four cameras in the Carmichael parking lot, two in the stadium overflow parking lot, four in the Alumni Center parking lot and two in the stadium parking lot, Willis said.
"We are in the process of installing them now and hope to have them finished by the middle of October," Willis said. "The next step is to set up the program and monitor process."
The cameras cost about $150,000, Willis said.
The majority of the cost was for the program that allows the Ball State Police to monitor the cameras, he said.
"The project was on the boards for a long time," Willis said. "It just took a while to get the exact directions and money."
Kevin Kenyon, associate vice president for facilities planning and management, said the reasons for the camera installation came from a combination of students' requests, vehicle break-ins and the attempted abduction of a student last spring.
"It is part of the ongoing effort to provide safety for students," Kenyon said.
Student Government Association President Betsy Mills said students have been requesting more surveillance cameras in parking lots for two or three years.
"Cars in the parking lots were getting broken into like crazy," Mills said.
SGA then passed on students' concerns to the public safety department, which has been working to get the surveillance cameras since the original complaints, Mills said.
Director of Public Safety Gene Burton said the cameras will enhance student safety, and police will monitor them 24 hours a day.
"It will protect patrons in those lots and vehicles from being broken into," Burton said.
The university is installing the cameras in locations that will have maximum coverage of the parking lots, Burton said.
Willis said several cameras were installed near Park Hall earlier in the semester.
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