Security cameras in Yates Field House have not been functioning properly for several months, and officials say they hope to remedy the problem in the coming weeks.

Wires to the cameras were cut during construction on the indoor tennis courts over the winter. Ed Spriggs (COL ’82), assistant director at Yates, said that the six security cameras in Yates have been malfunctioning for at least six months.

“They have been off more than they have been on since I have been here,” said Spriggs, who has worked at Yates since August 2005.

The problems stemming from last winter’s construction are not the first to affect the cameras. Yates Director James Gilroy (CAS ’72, GRD ’79) said the heavy electrical needs of Yates often overload the system, leading to blown fuses and short circuits.

Gilroy said a representative from Lee Electronics had inspected the cameras in the past month and was expected to return to fix them within the next two weeks. Repairs have not yet occurred because Lee Electronics has been too busy with other projects, he said.

Gilroy said that the cameras, when functional, are connected to monitors at the front desk and in his office, but are not watched by the Department of Public Safety. He said that some of the cameras currently work but cannot be viewed because they are disconnected from the monitors, while others do not work at all.

Dave Morrell, vice president for university safety, said that Yates is just as safe as any other place on campus, but encouraged students to exercise common sense.

“Yates is just as safe as any other building,” he said. “But you can’t leave your valuables unattended.”

Darryl Harrison, director of DPS, said there were 10 reported thefts at Yates last year and four so far in 2006, the majority of which occurred in the locker rooms. It is against both Yates and DPS policy to install security cameras in private places such as locker rooms.

Harrison said that DPS does not monitor the cameras in Yates because its priority lies in monitoring outdoor locations and other buildings.

Of the six security cameras installed in Yates during renovations in the 1990s, one faces the front door and front desk, one overlooks the basketball courts, another watches the pool door and three oversee the building’s emergency exits.

In addition to security cameras, there are notices posted in Yates warning people to secure their valuables.