Cameras Open Schools To Police
The sheriff’s department of DuPage County, Ill., will use a $75,000 federal grant to add 32 security cameras to the 16 already installed at Glenbard South High School.
Law enforcement officials will be able to access the school’s security system in case of an emergency and view any incident from the sheriff’s mobile command van. In addition, the sheriff’s department is training patrol officers in rapid deployment techniques, which include having the first officers to arrive at the scene of a shooting to enter the building as a group instead of waiting for a SWAT team.
According to Nicholas Shargo, chief of the sheriff’s law enforcement bureau, the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School prompted the new security measures.
However, Tom Janaes, the sheriff’s chief of administration, said the cameras will only be used by police in an emergency and not to monitor routine school activity.
In addition, Assistant Principal Jim Cuny said a record of who has patched into the system is kept by the cameras’ tracking mechanisms, so privacy concerns are not an issue.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Chicago Daily Herald (01/28/03) P. 1; Wallace, Diana .
