When authorities recovered electronics stolen during a summer burglary at New Mexico State University, they credited a set of clear surveillance images. Captured by security cameras at O’Donnell Hall, the photos went from police to Crime Stoppers to the public. Several tipsters in the community quickly recognized the three young men accused of nabbing a computer and digital projector worth about $2,100, leading police to the items and suspects.

But such helpful evidence isn’t always available —sometimes it’s bad luck, sometimes it’s an equipment problem. A lack of uniformity, and sometimes quality, in surveillance equipment throughout NMSU’s vast campus hinders some criminal investigations, officials said. It’s an issue that has developed over the course of several years from a combination of factors, and one that school personnel are working to change.

"Standardization is the key," said Lt. Lyn Hodges of the NMSU Police Department. Hodges, a veteran investigator, added that surveillance cameras aren’t an "end all, do all" crime solver, but they play a "huge" role.

NMSU officials are hoping that a security camera policy passed by the school’s Board of Regents last May will help make that equipment even more effective. There are about 200 surveillance cameras in use throughout buildings at NMSU, according to a note on an earlier draft of the policy. […]