Fresno State faculty OKs new surveillance policy

FresnoBee.com: Local: Fresno State faculty OKs new surveillance policy: "Campus cops at Fresno State will be able to go undercover during investigations, but they can't temporarily put video cameras in classrooms or faculty offices to catch suspected lawbreakers.

The Academic Senate at California State University, Fresno, approved a new campus surveillance policy Monday with those two major provisions. The policy now goes to university President John Welty, who will get the final say.

The Academic Senate -- a group of 68 professors who help formulate university policy -- has debated the surveillance plan for several months. They argued about constitutionally protected freedoms of privacy and speech versus what it takes for police to ensure security on a campus of 24,000 students, faculty and staff.

Professor Jacinta Amaral, who abstained from the vote, said after Monday's session: 'I am opposed to any covert surveillance by campus police in a classroom or faculty office. In the United States, we have other mechanisms to deal with criminal activity.'"