Security Cameras on Henry Ford College Campuses
I. Policy Title Security Cameras on Henry Ford College Campuses
II. Who Does This Policy Affect
This policy applies to all individuals who enter the College campuses, including Board of Trustees, students, employees, vendors, invitees and visitors.
III. Purpose
Henry Ford College remains committed to providing a learning environment that promotes a safe environment for its students, employees, vendors, and visitors. The College has installed security cameras, equipped with audio capabilities, to further support this ongoing effort. The purpose of these campus security cameras is to deter crime, offer our trained campus safety team with the resources they need to effectively protect the College community and the College’s resources, and to provide, when needed, other investigative information. This policy is designed to regulate the installation and appropriate use and review of these security devices.
IV. Policy Statement
The College is directed by the Board of Trustees (Board) to use these important security measures in a professional, ethical, and legal manner. The College’s installation of security cameras in public spaces, open areas, and high theft areas will assist with the protection of the College community and College property. No security cameras will be installed on College owned or controlled property in any location for which there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, including but not limited to restrooms, lactation rooms, and athletic locker rooms. Any placement of cameras must be approved by the President or appropriate Vice President, and the Manager of Campus Safety. The Board authorizes these individuals to seek the counsel of the Dearborn Police Department or any other law enforcement agency or resource for any additional placements or security updates. Only those individuals approved by the President or appropriate Vice President will be involved in, or may have access to, the recordings that accompanies the security cameras and audio. Installation and use of security cameras will not impinge on or unduly constrain the academic freedom or civil liberties of the College community.
Existence of these approved security cameras on campus does not imply, nor does it guarantee, that these cameras will be monitored in real time. There should not be any reliance upon their existence or expectation that these security cameras are being monitored continuously or that any department is going to observe and respond to a crime in progress. These cameras serve as another tool in the ongoing efforts of the College to provide, as best as possible, a safe working and learning environment.
This policy does not apply to academic examination proctoring services that utilize or apply technology to monitor and/or record students during testing procedures or examinations.
Development of Procedures for College use of the security cameras:
The Board directs the President or designee to develop procedures related to these security cameras. Recordings of images, video and audio, are considered sensitive information and should be protected from unauthorized access or use. The procedures, which will be attached to this policy as a related document, should include at a minimum, the process for the President or applicable Vice President to:
• Pre-approve camera placements
• Identify key personnel to monitor and control the security camera process
• Address appropriate privacy concerns, to identify access to the material and determine appropriate personnel access to the security cameras
• The authorization process for those select individuals to review camera feeds, live and recorded retention of data or records produced by these security devices, and restricted viewing of data, release, and destruction of recorded images.
Those employees who are authorized to have access to the camera feeds must be trained in the appropriate use of such information, confidentiality considerations, and student and employee privacy concerns. Applicable privacy and confidentiality provisions must apply to the live and recorded camera footage.
The procedures should also address signage locations to inform the public and College community of the existence of these security cameras.
Retention and Release of Information
The President or designee will identify the keeper of these security records and will instruct the keeper of these records that these records are to be held in a network secured central location, with limited access by authorized individuals.
Images and data obtained from these security devices shall be under the control of the designated keeper of these records, in collaboration with the designated IT employee(s). Images and audio shall be retained for not longer than 60days unless the feed has historic value, is relevant to an internal investigation, or to a known civil or criminal investigation.
All internal requests for information related to the security cameras feed shall be directed to the Manager of Campus Safety and release shall be approved by the Manager in consultation with their supervisor. All requests from an external source shall be directed to the Office of the General Counsel for review and approval.
Examples of potential release of this information may be in response to a criminal investigation, a civil suit, subpoena or court order, arrest, or to aid in an internal disciplinary proceeding or investigation involving or against a student or employee. Any release of this collected information will only be released in accordance with the law.
All access to audio or video captured by the cameras, whether it be access to real time audio/visual feeds, or access to past recordings of video and/or audio captures will be logged to an audit file. Logs will contain the name of the individual accessing the data, the time of the access, and the recordings of audio and video data that were accessed. No access to any type of audio and/or video capture, whether it be in real time or captured and stored data, will be allowed by generic accounts. This is to ensure all access to camera data can be tracked to a specific individual. Those accessing camera data without authority or permission will be subject to the disciplinary process in accordance with applicable collective bargaining agreements.
Anyone who tampers, destroys, or otherwise alters the security equipment will be subject to the disciplinary process in accordance with applicable collective bargaining agreements and/or criminal prosecution.
V. Definitions
Security Device: Means any camera, system, item, technology device, or process, used alone or in conjunction with a network, for the purpose of gathering and recording monitoring, and or storing any images, audio or data, of any persons located within the College’s surveillance areas.
Images that are captured by these devices may be viewed in real time and may be preserved for review at a later date.
Security Monitoring or Recording: The process by which a Security Device views, stores, and retrieves visual and audio for the purpose of deterring a crime, protecting the safety and security of individuals on college campuses, and security of College property and property of those on College campuses.
College facilities: Refers to the property upon which the College buildings are located on the Evergreen Dearborn campus and the Schafer Dearborn campus including, but not limited to the public and open spaces, open labs or classrooms, areas adjacent to public spaces, and those locations that represent a high potential for theft of College property.
VI. Responsible Party for Policy Interpretation/Review
President or Designee
Vice President of Facilities, IT
Manager of Campus Safety
VII. Related Documents
Procedures to Security Cameras on HFC Campuses
FERPA
VIII. Policy History:
a. Adopted by Board: November 25, 2024
This policy supersedes and replaces any and all policies related to this subject