A 56-year-old man is due to appear in the Dunedin District Court tomorrow, charged with assault with intent to rob.
He was arrested by police last Friday, following an incident at the Dundas Corner Dairy the previous day.
Otago University deputy proctor Geoff Burns said Campus Watch was contacted by police shortly after the robbery and was able to assist because of the CCTV cameras.
The following day the person was arrested, he said.
He could not go into detail about the assistance, as the matter was before court.
It highlighted the importance of the CCTV network around the university area, he said.
''The CCTV cameras are there for the community's safety. It's about helping them be safe and feel safe.
''It is not big brother watching - quite the contrary. It is there to be a deterrent or to assist in an investigation.''
This was a public instance in which the cameras assisted police, but Campus Watch routinely had requests from students reporting burglaries and damage to vehicles, he said.
On some occasions the camera network helped in those cases, he said.
Twenty-six new cameras were installed earlier this year on university property, adding to a network of more than 400.
There was a lot of consultation before their installation and ''very strict guidelines'' about their usage, Mr Burns said.
