Past generations have looked upon America’s schools as a place for learning, growth and personal development as well as a safe-haven. Schools were not only a location for class time, but as a safe and effective social center for attending children. However, in recent times America’s schools have increasingly become violence targets rather than educational and social institutions.
From gang violence to terrorist threats and school shootings, school districts as well as local and federal agencies are scrambling to find ways to not only make schools more secure, but also to develop emergency procedures. The integration of metal detectors, lock-down procedures, clothing restrictions and weapons bans are only a few of the latest policies directed towards violence protection. The unfortunate reality is that America’s schools are now a vulnerable target for those with the desire to do harm.
The potential for violence escalates year after year, especially following a trend of high-profile school shootings. It seems as if no school or district can be immune to potential violence, as shown by the recent murder of five students at a small one-room Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa. The Columbine Massacre, as well as the recent Bailey, Colo. standoffs are also prime examples of how much of a disadvantage authorities can be in when assessing a threat virtually blind to the location and activities of the suspect or suspects inside.
While many schools in recent years have equipped their campuses with security video surveillance systems, these solutions are only effective when piecing together a crime after the fact. How can administration and authorities take advantage of real-time surveillance of an event without needing direct access to the surveillance system? The answer today is digital surveillance.
Based upon the recent school violence and increased threats to schools, Newcomerstown School District in Newcomerstown, Ohio began reevaluating their ability to prevent violence and how to effectively manage it if a violent act occurs. Their previous conventional tape surveillance system came up short in many ways, including the inability to monitor surveillance from an outside location.
Digital surveillance is a tape-free system with the ability to record events to a hard disk rather than a VHS or tape and reel system. Digital surveillance can be achieved through a PC-based system, or as a standalone recording device. Surveillance can be monitored, played back and searched based upon virtually any desired user setting. Some digital surveillance solutions even provide the ability to access live video from anywhere an Internet connection is available.
Shawn Dakin is the assistant director of technology for Newcomerstown Schools. “I am responsible for all networking and data systems in the school district. Although not directly responsible for security, I felt that my department could find a cost effective solution for our video surveillance,” Dakin said.
“Prior to our upgrade we were running a…Video Cassette Recorder for our video archiving. This system was cumbersome to use and playback quality was marginal at best. In the past, we had a difficult time retrieving video in a timely fashion. When an incident happened that required disciplinary action, our administration found it frustrating to use the system to view video of the infraction,” Dakin said.
Randy Addy, Newcomerstown high school principal and director of buildings and grounds, mentioned interest in purchasing some type of digital video surveillance and archiving system, but was concerned about the cost. “Several vendors had approached Mr. Addy with canned solutions that cost thousands of dollars, which was far beyond the price we could reasonably afford,” Dakin said.
As with most schools, Newcomerstown had a limited budget, yet required a highly functional and easy to use solution. “For a system to be approved, it had to demonstrate that it could be easily accessed by the principal, assistant principal, secretaries and local law enforcement and provide video playback that was “useful” in the investigation of disciplinary actions,” Addy said. “As a “poor Appalachian” school in southeastern Ohio, we have to make every penny count.”