School safety is of great collective concern and under threat—especially in recent years—as evidenced by the number of school shootings that have taken place. Student safety is the school administrators’ number one priority. In order to ensure the safety of students, many schools are turning to video surveillance as a way to improve emergency response.
Including the recent events at Robb Elementary, 27 school shootings have occurred just in 2022 so far. This past academic year saw the highest number of school shootings in 20 years.
By having a working and optimized video surveillance system in schools, administrators can quickly identify emergencies and respond accordingly. And while video surveillance is not a guarantee against such tragedies, it can help improve emergency response times and may help to prevent such disasters and save lives.
We’ll discuss a few ways video surveillance in schools can reinforce and modernize safety.
Reacting to Alerts and Unusual Activity Faster
One of the biggest difficulties involving safety in schools is finding what problems are happening in real-time. In order to effectively address any emergencies, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of what is happening as it is occurring.
This can be difficult to do if there is a lot of activity going on in the school at any given time. With video surveillance in schools, however, you can have a better view of activity and quickly identify any potential problems.
In many cases, notifying emergency authorities and letting them track down the threat can take time that you may not have. By having video surveillance in place, you can quickly identify the problem, notify law enforcement, and send them to the exact location of the incident. This can be crucial in a time-sensitive emergency situation.
Access for Emergency Authorities
Once the emergency responders have been notified and arrive on the scene, the next step would be to explain the situation to them in further detail and follow their usual emergency protocols.
With video footage of the problem, you can show physical evidence of the events to corroborate your story with recorded details you might have missed. The footage will help the authorities understand the situation better and will speed up the time needed to work on solving the issue.
While it’s imperative for emergency responders to have video footage, it’s also crucial that only authorized personnel have access to the recording of any events. This protects the privacy of the students and staff in the school and their families.
Preventative Measures
There are a number of features that can be used to improve the video surveillance in schools. By using them, you can enhance the video capabilities and better protect the students in your school.
- Motion Detection – Motion detection allows the surveillance system to detect when something is moving in the scene and send an alert to the administrator. If there is a person walking around in a school after hours, the motion detection will send an alert to the administrator so that they can investigate.
- Thermal Imaging – This type of imaging uses heat to create an image, which can be helpful in pinpointing potential problems. For example, if there is a fire in the school, thermal imaging can help identify the location and source of the fire.
- Automatic Facial Identification – Facial recognition software can be used to identify people who are not supposed to be in the school. This can help to prevent trespassing and other dangerous events.
- License Plate Detection – This type of video surveillance uses software to identify vehicle license plates. This can be helpful in video surveillance at school by identifying cars that are not supposed to be there or not allowed on-premises.
Take Action to Secure School Safety with ANC Group
Modern video surveillance in schools can play a crucial role in improving safety. By having access to footage of what is happening in the school, administrators can alert students and authorities, emergency responders can arrive on-scene quickly and efficiently, and families can feel a little more secure in sending their loved ones to school.
This security measure can help prevent emergencies from happening and improve response time. ANC Group has experience protecting schools with the latest technology available. Video surveillance is just one of the many innovative technologies available to help keep students safe. Contact our company today to protect your school as much as possible!
