Page 75 - Security Today, November/December 2020

approach are clear, however it’s natural for the topic of student pri- vacy to become a concern when it comes to video security. With the camera systems audit log feature, all activity is automatically logged so administrators have full visibility into user actions within the plat- form. “This makes it simple for me to pinpoint activity that falls out- side of normal use cases. I can quickly, and objectively, understand what’s going on within our system,” Pompano said.
Beyond sharing access to cameras and securely monitoring system usage, making school safety a shared responsibility requires a collab- orative initiative amongst teachers, faculty and school safety officers. However, it can be hard to understand where to start building out a strategy that impacts security on campus.
“Starting with areas that we hear are susceptible to vandalism, or other blind spots that have been reported as unpermitted entrance or exit points, we’re proactively mitigating risks that may occur in those areas,” Pompano said. “The camera system makes it easy to know what’s going on in those areas without having to actively monitor those sites. By setting motion alerts, I’m notified any time unusual motion is detected in frame, and I can quickly direct my team to take action immediately.”
Keeping schools safe is something that requires strategy and exe- cution. Talk to those on your team who might know about where incidents occur most commonly, whether it be security officers, teachers, or noon aides. By gathering that insight, you’re able to effec- tively address issues that are already concerns among students.
Enforce Positive Behaviors on Campus
External factors, such as intruders or suspicious vehicles parked close to school campus are often perceived as the biggest threats to safety on campus, however a majority of inappropriate conduct at school
occurs between students. With reported incidents of school bullying at a record high, schools are starting to rely on surveillance footage to objectively make sense of a situation and address unacceptable behaviors.
“Back then, if an incident occurred, all we could do is ask the stu- dents involved what happened; it was a students’ word, versus anoth- er. Without the ability to know for certain what happened, we had to get parents involved before figuring out what next steps should be,” Pompano said.“What Verkada has provided for my team is the ability to isolate incidents of interest in a matter of seconds. By searching for footage across a certain location with date and time filters, we’re able to see exactly what happened, then speak to the student about it. Our hope is that the student learns from their mistake and sees that there are repercussions to poor behaviors—especially if it risks the safety of other students on campus.”
With cameras deployed across all seven schools in the district, the faculty at Newtown Public School district are confident that they are fostering an environment that is conducive to student learning and positive school experiences.
Final Takeaway
While video security is primarily focused on monitoring the perim- eters of our school campuses, exterior doors, and areas of open space, it can also be used to effectively enforce better behavior among our students. We believe that positive school experiences should be expected, and we’re doing our best to make sure that safety starts from the inside.
Christine Dzou focuses on expanding Verkada’s digital reach and iden- tifying successful channels for opportunity creation.
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