March 18, 2008
Chicago looks to link school surveillance cameras to police department and 911 center
After a string of deadly shootings and violent activity in and around Chicago area schools, the city is moving quickly to upgrade its surveillance program to include better video security for schools. Currently, Chicago's surveillance network includes 10,000 private and public security cameras. That number will grow by 45 percent once the school surveillance upgrade is completed. Federal funds from the Department of Homeland Security will finance the $418,000 project.
Up until this point, school security cameras in Chicago were accessible only to school administrators. In most cases, the cameras are not continuously monitored, only analyzed in the case of an incident. But with the new system, the cameras will be viewable by 911 dispatchers as well as officers in squad cars using portable devices. Police officers responding to incidents will have full access to camera footage, video images of suspects, and even school floor plans.
The cameras will provide routine monitoring of school entrances and exits. In order to maintain a degree of privacy, cameras will not be used for regular monitoring of classrooms.
Read more in the Chicago Sun-Times...
Posted by Dan on March 18, 2008 10:32 PM | Comments (0)
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