UGA to install stadium surveillance system

Think twice about taking a swing at that obnoxious Tennessee fan in Sanford Stadium next football season.

And if you must do it anyway, smile - police might be taking your picture.

The University of Georgia hopes to install a high-tech video surveillance system by next season in the 92,746-seat Sanford Stadium, the fifth-largest campus football stadium in the country.

UGA has been awarded a federal Homeland Security grant of about $236,000 for the camera system, which will allow police to see and record what happens in almost any corner of the stadium, UGA Police Chief Jimmy Williamson said.

A similar camera system was temporarily installed in the stadium during the 1996 Summer Olympics, when the stadium hedges were removed for the Olympics' largest competition, soccer, Chief Williamson said.

Installing security cameras in Sanford Stadium was one of the recommendations of an emergency preparedness and communications committee that UGA President Michael Adams appointed after a student at Virginia Tech University went on a rampage in April, killing 32 people and himself.

UGA was already trying to secure grant money for the surveillance system even before the committee began work, Chief Williamson said.