FEATURE
MONITORING TUFTS’ SURVEILLANCE STATE By Amanda Westlake and Edith Philip
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ufts University has used surveillance since its founding. In 1852, it started with security officers and police and has since been expanded with hundreds of security cameras, automated parking enforcement, and the monitoring of campus internet use. Some students constantly feel watched and believe security is valued over student privacy. An anonymous junior said, “It’s almost impossible to function at the university without being surveilled in some capacity.” Surveillance has historically been used to oppress and criminalize marginalized communities. Often, this is done in the name of public safety. Surveillance methods are intertwined with the systemic racism of the criminal justice system. Lee Edelman, a professor of literature and film, said, “The issue of surveillance is always linked to this specter of crime and to the possibility of protection against crime.”
CAMERAS ON CAMPUS Security cameras constantly record community members as they walk through entryways, stairwells, and outdoor spaces at Tufts. In 2019, the Tufts Observer reported that the Tufts University Police Department had access to footage from hundreds of cameras after the university expanded its surveillance system over the previous five years. This September, the Tufts Daily reported that Tufts had increased the number of cameras on campus again, this time installing additional parking cameras in anticipation of the Green Line extension. Parking cameras were first implemented at Tufts in 2010 and 2 TUFTS OBSERVER OCTOBER 24, 2022
enforce Tufts’ parking rules by automatically reading cars’ license plates. Cameras increase Tufts University Police Department’s reach at the cost of privacy. Second-year dual degree student Ed Hans said, “We know that TUPD has access to all the cameras that are in the dorm buildings, and I would assume they also have access to the ones surveilling where people park. It just gives them more eyes.” In a written statement to the Observer, Tufts’ Executive Director of Media Relations Patrick Collins wrote, “TUPD can request access [to parking cameras] when necessary for public safety reasons.” Tufts’ video surveillance policy dictates how TUPD and other departments can use security camera footage. The purpose of the policy is to balance public safety with concerns for privacy. According to the policy, most video footage can be used for “official university and law enforcement purposes,” and “mobile or hidden” cameras can be used in criminal and non-criminal investigations. Parking cameras take photos, not videos, and are not subject to the video surveillance policy. Whenever security cameras are utilized, the people monitoring them unavoidably view the footage with biases, which may affect who is considered a potential threat to campus security. PhD candidate Nick Rabb, who co-teaches a new class at Tufts called “Data and Power: Deconstructing Surveillance,” said, “Are the white male students going to be the ones who are harmed? Probably not. It’s going to be students of color… They’ll probably have this system used against them.” Postdoctoral researcher Desen Ozkan, who co-teaches “Data and Power” with Rabb, said institutions
often implement additional surveillance measures when there is a perception of danger but that these policies should be re-evaluated as needs evolve. Ozkan said, “Those old surveillance measures [such as cameras] need to be checked.”
POLICE PRESENCE TUPD uses many methods beyond security cameras to monitor