THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502240168
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATRICIA HUANG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Chesapeake schools are gearing up like never before to keep an unblinking, watchful eye out for trouble.
In an attempt to crack down on crime and vandalism, city schools are preparing to equip most of their secondary schools and school buses with high-tech surveillance cameras, officials said. The project, a stage of a regionally adopted Safe School Plan to combat school violence and discipline issues, has already been implemented in various stages by some Hampton Roads school districts.
The school system plans to install 25 recently purchased surveillance cameras in Chesapeake school buses as its first step in the project, said Jim Ward, Chesapeake school program administrator for business affairs.
So far, the city has spent about $37,000 for 155 mounting boxes and 25 school bus cameras, according to Ward. The idea is that all of the school system's more than 300 school buses will eventually hold black mounting boxes that are designed to house the cameras. The cameras will be rotated on a need basis, he said. Only the bus drivers and school officials will know which black boxes are actually equipped with the rolling cameras. But, school officials said, even empty, the threat of a camera will serve as a deterrent to disruptive behavior.
It was this and other security measures that Chesapeake high school and middle school principals discussed last spring when they met to develop their Safe School Plan. What they came up with was a three-staged approach.
The first stage has already been completed with the implementation of more walkie-talkies, metal detectors and additional temporary security personnel to monitor high school and middle school hallways.
The school's second and current stage involves the creation of a training program and curriculum for security monitors or personnel along with the purchase and installation of surveillance cameras for high schools and some buses.
``Hopefully, some of them will be up and in operation (in the schools) before the end of the school year,'' Ward said. The rest of the cameras and mounting boxes for the buses are scheduled to be purchased as the last stage of the safety plan.
School officials estimate that the cost of the mounted cameras and lenses for school buildings will cost about $700 each. School board members recently discussed allocating $25,000 to each school for the surveillance systems.
With the recording cameras and monitors in place, the schools would have less need for as many security monitors to watch hallways and parking lots, Ward said. The cameras could yield big savings after annual salaries and medical benefits are accounted for, he added. Currently each high school has two security monitors and one police officer.
This week, Chesapeake schools will be advertising their request for proposals to be submitted by private security surveillance firms, Ward said. Next month, the schools will review the proposals and bids.
Most neighboring school districts such as Virginia Beach and Norfolk are also searching for cost-effective surveillance camera plans and some have already begun to test the merits of the equipment with low-tech cameras in such areas as bus ramp, parking lots and entrances to after-school sporting events. Most of their efforts, however, have been piecemeal.
The new Oscar Smith high school, with its parking lot camera, is the first Chesapeake school to have a camera.
Portsmouth is the first city in Hampton Roads to implement comprehensive surveillance cameras in their schools, with all three of their high schools already equipped. The pilot plan began last year with Wilson High School. This year both Norcom and Churchland High School are equipped as well.
At Churchland High School, 11 cameras are placed in many of the popular spots around school. This includes both common areas and secluded spots such as parking lots and cafeterias. There also are six cameras in stairwells.
For months, Chesapeake school officials have been touring school districts to view a variety of cameras and their effects on discipline. Ward, who also toured Hampton and Newport News schools, said that most school officials in other cities are pleased with the results. by CNB