Vandalism at Ruxer Field forces security camera installation

Jasper – Over the past eight years, buildings and vehicles at Ruxer Field have regularly been vandalized and broken into; just within the past three months a school van windshield has been smashed and the concession stand broken into.

According to Assistant Superintendent Bob Hacker, very few of the incidents exceeded the school’s insurance policy deductible of $5000. Due to this the Athletics Department has absorbed the cost of the repairs over the years.

“The cost of the windshield repair alone justifies the installation of the cameras,” Hacker said.

At Monday’s Greater Jasper Consolidated School Board meeting, Hacker requested approval to have a local security company, Advanced Security Innovations, install four security cameras at the field at a cost of $1924.96.

The cameras  will record footage onto a secure server and are accessible by Hacker, Athletic Director Andy Noblitt and Baseball Coach Terry Gobert from any device connected to the internet. A camera will be placed at the press box and concession stand, and two cameras will be place at the hitting facility with one pointed at the playground.

The hope is the cameras and the public announcement will reduce the amount of vandalism and break-ins that have occurred there.