Police and school officials plan to link cameras at the Pittsburg, Calif. high school to a citywide security system that has been credited with helping to solve crimes.
The move will help police investigate any crimes that might occur on the 2,500-student campus or respond more quickly to a disturbance, says a Mercurynews.com report.
Pittsburg has spent $1.5 million to install 80 cameras at strategic points in the city since 2005, the report says. Images from the cameras are stored on the department's computer hard drives for three weeks, giving officers time to review them if a crime is reported near a camera location, it says.
The department has used the images to corroborate information from victims and witnesses and solve more than 100 crimes, says the report, including solving an attempted murder.
The campus has 100 cameras in the courtyard, halls and stairwells, and the school prinicipal and other administrators can view the images on their laptops, the report says.
The city will pay about $40,000 for software to establish the link, and will also pay for upkeep and maintenance of the system.
