Are surveillance cameras necessary for school safety?

Are surveillance cameras necessary for school safety?

When cameras are selective and stationed and located, if you will, in relation to a formal risk and vulnerability assessment, they can be very helpful. We've seen dramatic reductions in incidents. Unfortunately, many camera installations don't go that way. Often, cameras become a replacement for human supervision. Teachers and staff may think that cameras are watching students. Cameras should supplement, but not replace human supervision. They should be implemented as part of a comprehensive strategy. They are typically not one of the first things I recommend for schools to improve safety. At a certain point they become very valuable, but often we see cameras very unwisely used, and in many cases we've seen the cameras used against school in litigation to prove, for example, that a child was beaten, and how long this took, and to prove that there was not adequate supervision at the time. Apply cameras thoughtfully. One of the most useful applications for cameras is for proper access control. For example, to allow us to buzz someone into a side door, because we can look and see that that needs to be done, and who we are letting into the building. Thoughtfully applied they are very valuable, but unfortunately many times they are not used wisely.