A newly-installed electronic security system is in experimental use as part of security changes under implementation at the Holmes Student Center Bookstore.

Margie Marshall, a bookstore secretary and member of the bookstore’s security task force, said the Monarch 1 electronic security system was installed within the last two weeks and is running temporarily on a “trial and error” basis. “We’re working out the bugs and ticketing our merchandise for use with the new system,” she said.

William Herrmann, NIU director of Bond Revenue Operations and acting director of the student center, said the new system’s hardware and installation cost about $35,000. This does not include the yearly cost of merchandise tags, he said.

Under the new system, store clerks will run merchandise to be purchased over a scanner. Alarms at the doors will sound if merchandise is taken without being paid for.

The electronic system is only one of the recent changes in security policy, Herrmann said. He said other changes include those in the judicial policy for NIU students involved in thefts from the store. Marshall said, “We have a policy now, but the new one will be more specific.”

The bookstore’s new security policies will be discussed at a 9 a.m. meeting on July 13, Herrmann said. He said representatives of many NIU organizations and offices such as the ombudsman and the Student Association will be invited to the discussion.

William Parker, interim associate vice president for business and operations, said the meeting will be called because of the university’s “responsibility to inform” the NIU community of any changes.

“We would also like to ask for any outside help and input while we’re in our planning stages,” Parker said.

He stressed that the decision to upgrade bookstore security was made last October, even before the much-publicized Jan. 21 incident in which four NIU students were accused of shoplifting.

Marshall said full implementation of the new security policy, including the electronic system, should come by the beginning of the fall semester.