The Wolf Law Building on the University of Colorado Boulder campus. (Courtesy of University of Colorado)
Students at the University of Colorado Boulder�s Law School are fighting for the removal of surveillance cameras in the Wolf Law Building, arguing that it contributes to excessive policing and poses a threat to vulnerable populations.�
�The arguments in favor of the presence of surveillance cameras is that they make others feel safe,� said Amanda Blasingame, president of the National Lawyers Guild�s CU Boulder chapter. �However, it is important to consider who we�re making feel safe while simultaneously making others feel less safe and at risk. In a balancing of interests, the risks of the cameras� presence far outweigh any supposed benefits.�
While a protest was scheduled to take place Tuesday it was canceled over concerns of the spreading COVID-19 virus, which has shuttered several campus buildings and forced students to take classes online.�
But according to Daniel Ress, a CU law student and member of the same chapter as Blasingame, future efforts to remove the cameras will continue and a petition, which began in November, has already made the rounds in the law school with 76 signatures from students and faculty.�
Ress and other members of the guild fear the cameras could threaten the school�s clients, such as people seeking free legal advice on immigration problems or people experiencing homelessness.�
�Even if we have a policy of not handing footage over readily to ICE, ICE can get a subpoena for it,� Ress said. �These surveillance cameras are a tool of the police state, and so this is just giving cops more bullets and giving mass incarceration a leg up.��
According to Andrew Sorensen, CU media relations manager, the cameras are not currently turned on and will remain that way until the school�s dean, James Anaya, �approves a policy to govern their use.�
Anaya, in a statement, said the cameras were installed in fall 2019 in response to multiple incidents over time involving �theft, acts of aggression and medical emergencies.� In an email to students, he called the installation �quite modest in comparison� to other schools on campus such as the Leeds School of Business� Koebel building, which has 25 cameras.�
Ress, however, claims the cameras were installed without the knowledge of students. Sorensen was reached for a statement but could not comment on this.�
In late November, Anaya sent an email to the entire law school assuring the cameras will remain inactive until a proper policy concerning �how to protect the data captured on the cameras, how to retain it and who may access it, why, and when,� is decided by a committee of students, faculty and staff. Decisions regarding the policy are still yet to be decided as the committee continues to deliberate.�
�The committee generally wants to keep our discussions internal for now,� said Rodrigo Lugo, a law student and current committee member. �Given campus closure, I imagine all discussions will be delayed until next fall.�
Ress was invited to sit on the committee but declined.
�I have no interest in coming up with a policy to keep the cameras up,� they said.
Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Noelle Videon at noelle.videon@colorado.edu.
