As springtime spurs Washington University Medical Center students and employees to spend time outdoors for strolls across campus or lunch in nearby restaurants, they’ll do so under the protective watch of newly affixed security cameras at campus and neighborhood street corners.
The installation of 91 such cameras — 60 of which will be paid for by the medical center — began in the fall and will continue over the next couple of months at corners and other sites throughout most of the Central West End (CWE). An additional 42 such cameras will be installed throughout the Medical Campus. The cameras augment ongoing efforts by the medical center to heighten safety for employees, students and also area neighborhoods.
The CWE cameras already have been instrumental in providing evidence for police in a handful of incidents since the new year began, says Jim Whyte, executive director of the CWE Neighborhood Security Initiative (CWE NSI), a partnership between the medical center and the CWE’s special business districts.
