University Police are set to install a surveillance camera network atop the College Park Shopping Center to address suspicions that criminals have been using the lot to stage attacks in surrounding areas.

The eight-camera network could also be used to capture footage of students involved in post-game rioting, University Police spokeswoman Maj. Cathy Atwell said, giving police a wide range of surveillance that would capture activity in a highly concentrated area off-campus. Police now operate hundreds of cameras on the campus, and published pictures taken from video of riots in an attempt to identify rioters in April.

It was unclear where police obtained the riot videos, and Atwell said police officers did not shoot the video posted in the form of stills on the University Police website.

Atwell said the cameras would be the first to be located on property not owned by the university.

Police obtained permission from shopping center owner JBG Rosenfeld Retail about eight months ago to install the cameras on the roof between CVS and Wawa, and Atwell said the network would probably be operating by the middle of next month.

“In an effort to make the campus safer we are expanding the area that we monitor cameras and record information,” Atwell said. “That is a lot of cameras, but that’s a big space.”

The requests came after Atwell said police identified a pattern of criminals parking in the lot while they engaged in criminal activity elsewhere in the city. Police developed the theory after witnesses reported a number of times when criminals headed toward the lot or came from that direction near the time a crime was reported.

The cameras, which would be controlled and monitored remotely from a central location, would not only be used to monitor for fights, vandalism and drunken driving, but also to gather evidence used in identifying criminals after crimes are committed on the campus, Atwell said. She added that Prince George’s police task forces have concentrated on the lot as well.

Jane Mellenkamp, the property manager of the College Park Shopping Center, said her company was glad to allow the police to install cameras, and said she thought the center’s store managers would be happy to welcome the cameras as well.

“Most of the trouble goes on outside of the store, but if it’s going to help with the safety of others who don’t want to get involved with anything, it’s a good thing,” said a Wawa employee who asked not to be identified because of store policy. “I’m happy to see it.”

CVS store manager Kevin Kusiolek didn’t know the cameras were being installed, but said he supported their installation: “I think anything as far as to keep everyone more safe and feel more comfortable walking around the campus and the shopping center is a good thing.”

The primary problem at the center, said Domino’s Pizza General Manager Sean Schoonover, is fights that break out in the parking lot and people who come into his store drunk.

“There’s always times when you got to tell people to leave. It’s all harmless though,” he said.

The move comes on the heels of other nearby areas’ attempts to suppress crime through the use of cameras. This summer, the Washington City Council approved a bill that would install surveillance cameras in high-crime areas where murders and robberies had been problematic.

The Washington Post reported that several D.C. council members raised concerns about privacy when the bill was introduced, and sophomore dance major Alanna Raffel had similar apprehensions when interviewed about the cameras.

“It’s one of those invasion of privacy things,” she said.

Atwell said signs notifying visitors of the cameras would be posted nearby, and said, “I don’t see any issues with privacy.”

Contact reporter Will Skowronski at skowronskidbk@gmail.com.