Hudson Park Cctv Report

Hudson Park High School CCTV System In January 2007, Hudson Park High installed a 88 channel CCTV system. As an education institution with security / behavior challenges, the acquisition of this system has proved to be of great benefit to the learners, teachers and parents.

Special points of interest:

The information that follows is a report on the current system to date. Classroom Camera’s.

 Improved classroom behavior.  Reduced general theft problems.  Improved teachers moral.  Quicker to resolve discipline issues.

www.hphs.co.za/cctv.htm

An immediate improvement was found in pupil behavior after the cameras were installed. Prior to the CCTV system, certain pupils would aggravate and belittle staff. The inclusion of the audio facility has helped prevent this. Teachers are now able to play back the lesson and demerit the pupil. Aggressive behavior has resulted in Governing Body hearings. The classroom cameras have also proved effective to help prevent theft. Common items stolen were; cell phones, books and stationary. These items are easily picked up on camera, and so the incidents of theft have dropped. Another benefit is the control of tests and punctuality of teachers. The head of Academics is able to view the test procedure from her office using the remote viewing software. Overall the classroom cameras are a great success, and will be even better when hard drive storage increases. The system has the ability to increase the quality of the recorded video, however it is limited to available server space. Passage Camera’s. The initial benefit of these cameras was the ability to track a persons movement around the school, especially learners who are out of class. The other benefit is trying to

identify a person on our campus when not easily seen in a particular area. The synchronized time between cameras allows us to do this. Recently a teacher suspected that a learner’s request to go to the toilet had become an extended event. With the passage cameras, we were able to track the learners route around the school, and demerit them for a school infringement. These cameras are also used to monitor lockers, however the fluctuations in light and the number of learners using the lockers simultaneously has proved difficult to single

3 CCTV Servers

out individual learners lockers. Ground Camera’s. When first installed, the PTZ cameras were used to monitor the school grounds during break. Without a full time security staff member, this eventually proved ineffective and so they were set onto a tour. The ability to zoom in on learners using cell phones during school hours, and other problematic behaviors has proved very useful. Our gate cameras have helped track vehicles coming in and out of our grounds. These have helped prevent and solve cases of vandalism to our property. Incident Management. One of the biggest challenges for a school is the management of such a di-

verse system. We have found that an investigation officer is essential and that the system be running all the time to effectively collect the relevant data. The amount of time spent investigating an incident often exceeds the value of the item. The collection of the data is however extremely valuable, as it allows us to study the behavior patterns and incidents on the school grounds. Governing Body Hearings. With the installation of a camera in the mini-hall in the near future, all future hearings can be recorded thus saving much time in the transcribing of audio recordings if requested by the department. The ultimate CCTV solution would be a permanent guard behind the console, and another on foot using a radio. This way we would be able to combat issues in real time. The new system has proved extremely effective and has helped improve our schools credibility. The parents and public have only given praise to Hudson for investing in this new system. Sean Udal Director Electronic Systems, Head of ICT.