University City - Carolina Weekly Newspapers

Police have eye in the sky
News
by Matt Collins
editor@universitycityweekly.com
UNC CHARLOTTE – You might
want to think twice before breaking in
that car.
Police might be watching you.
The University of North Carolina at
Charlotte’s Police and Public Safety
Department recently paid $80,000 for
a two-story Skywatch Tower, which
allows them to keep an eye on some of
the campus’ crime hot spots and deter
car break-ins.
“It’s a crime of opportunity,” Officer
Joe Calderon said of the break-ins.
The tower is perched in front of Scott
and Holshouser halls, near Lot 8 on the
west side of campus, adjacent to University
City Boulevard. The dorms and the
parking lot serve freshmen primarily.
Lot 8 is a massive parking area with
hundreds of spaces, and cars parked
there have proved prime targets for
thieves. The lot sits next to trees and
University City Boulevard, giving thieves
an easy escape route, Lt. Josh Huffman
said.
Calderon attributed the rash of breakins
to a combination of freshmen inexperience
– leaving valuables in plain
sight in their cars – and the university’s
detachment geographically from the
rest of the city.
The Skywatch
Tower doesn’t
have cameras, but
it is enclosed so
people can’t see
an officer inside.
Police wouldn’t
say how often the
tower is manned,
so students – and
thieves – can’t
know when someone’s
watching.
The New York
Police Department
has 11 Skywatch
Towers, according
to Calderon,
who worked for
the department 20
years before retiring.
“You look (out
from the tower),
and you get the
rhythm. You’ll see
who doesn’t belong”
in the parking lot.
The $80,000 tower gets power from
the attached generator, or it can tap
into a nearby light post. It has its own
weather station, which tells the temperature,
humidity, wind speed and other
Matt Collins/UCW photos
The view looking out of the skywatch tower. Perched two stories high, the
tower allows law enforcement to view all parts of the massive parking lot.
measurements. It is air
conditioned and heated.
It’s equipped with
strobe, flood and search
lights. An officer can
get in the tower, and
turn off the engine –
which whines like a very-powerful lawnmower
– when it gets to its maximum
height. This would silences the sound
and creates a perception that an officer
probably isn’t inside.
The department recently purchased
another tower, which Huffman said
will arrive Jan. 28. The department also
recently acquired a special truck hitch
enabling officers to move the towers
around the campus as needed.
“I guess it will (help) crack down on
car break-ins,” said Nolan Putnam, a
junior public relations major who happened
to walk by the tower. “$80,000?
That’s a lot of money. Better lighting
might help and not (cost) as much.” q
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www.universitycityweekly.com University City Weekly • Jan. 22-28, 2010 • Page 3