UGA surveillance cameras to focus on fans in stadium

ATHENS, Ga. - 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 may be taking your picture.

The University of Georgia hopes to install a high-tech video surveillance system by next season in 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, said UGa police Chief Jimmy Williamson.

A similar camera system was temporarily installed in the stadium during the 1996 Summer Olympics, when the Sanford Stadium hedges were removed for the Olympics' largest competition, soccer. 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 last April, killing 32 people and himself.

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