“There were a lot of people that didn’t want cameras back in the day, kind of like this ‘big brother’ thing,” Ardovini said. These new cameras operate on a completely digital platform and have a longer retention time than the old ones - they retain recorded footage for 30 days - allowing the center to keep up with an increased demand for police footage, Ardovini said. “In each of these moves, there’s an advancement in what we’re able to do for the community and for the department.”Īfter these renovations, the center now controls and actively monitors more than 400 cameras located on and near the campus, in addition to more than 200 cameras within buildings such as McKeldin Library and Stamp Student Union, said current center Commander Philip Tou. “If you can imagine relocating a technology-based, 24-hour-a-day operation from one location to another, it took a lot of coordination and effort and a lot of people,” Ardovini said. After the renovations were completed, the center returned to the third floor of the Pocomoke, where it remains today. In 2011, the center changed locations again, moving to the Severn Building on Greenbelt Road for about two years to allow major renovations to take place in Pocomoke, Ardovini said. “This allowed us to be not just current, but ahead of things, which helped us prioritize getting things done,” Ardovini said. To accommodate this change in mentality, the center was relocated to the third floor of the Pocomoke Building, and the department hired in-house employees who could install cameras and make repairs. Further, an outside contractor located in Baltimore meant that damaged cameras might remain unfixed for long periods of time.īut as technology evolved, the center did as well, and in 2001, the center became more proactive about getting updated technology, Ardovini said. Footage was recorded onto VHS tapes, and because of storage limits, it had a shelf life of just two weeks - exacerbating an already intensive video-review process.

At the time, they worked from the basement of the Facilities Management building and were limited in their capabilities.

The center had relatively quiet beginnings, with just a handful of employees monitoring 25 cameras located around the campus, Ardovini said.

Center monitor camera