Guide to security cameras for schools, classrooms and campuses

Enhance awareness in schools with AI cameras and analytics

In recent years, campus security technology like security camera technology has taken great strides to provide further features that can support the operator in enhancing the safety and security of their facilities, with video analytics being one of the most important advancements. Video analytics technology and intelligent security cameras for education and schools, especially when powered by AI, can extend the security team’s capabilities by automatically alerting operators of potential incidents within their facility, allowing them to respond in real-time to events. These analytics include: 

Detect unusual motion: Unusual motion technology within school security cameras learn what a typical scene looks like. It then detects and flags unusual motion that deviates from the norm to the operator via an AI video management software. An example of this could be the movement of an intruder on school property outside of school hours in a school security camera scene.

Detect unusual activity: Unusual activity technology detects atypical activities within a camera scene and alerts operators. For example, AI security cameras are able to quickly pinpoint abnormal behavior for security operators to further investigate. An example of this type of video analytics in schools is detecting a speeding vehicle in the campus parking lot or someone climbing the perimeter fence.

Read vehicular information: This type of video analytics automatically reads vehicular information and links it to live and recorded video. In the event of an incident involving a vehicle, security operators can use AI analytics and license plate recognition technology to search for this vehicle’s information and quickly find school security camera footage relating to it for verification and investigation. Some advanced AI-powered school security camera systems alertoperatorsto specific banned vehicles entering their grounds.

Benefits of using security cameras and CCTV in schools

Increased situational awareness and faster incident response

Utilizing school funding and grants for school security cameras can help provide the security team with a view of the activities taking place within their educational facilities. Without having to physically be there, the school security camera system operator can detect when a potential incident may be unfolding and provide vital information to the security team for an informed response. With artificial intelligence security cameras in a school, the operator can be automatically alerted to an incident allowing for faster incident response.

Improved student behavior

The presence of school cameras has been proven to improve the behavior of students and help prevent violence on school property. With security cameras for schools installed, students think twice before bullying their peers, instigating arguments or fights and damaging school property as well as other activities.

Deter criminal activities

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, during the 2019 – 20 school year, 77% of public schools recorded that one or more incidents of crime had taken place. This amounts to 1.4 million incidents across U.S. public schools. Deterring crime should therefore be a key focus for school administrators and this is where CCTV for schools comes in. As pointed out earlier in this guide, CCTV cameras in schools, as well as cameras located along the school perimeter, can prove to be a strong visual deterrent for crime. Well-placed school security cameras help prevent theft, vandalism, antisocial behavior or other illegal activities as people know their activities and identity could be captured in live and recorded footage.

Capture evidentiary footage

With school cameras installed at strategic checkpoints, whether that’s along the perimeter line, along a hallway in a faculty building, or via a stop arm camera on a school bus, footage of incidents and emergencies can be captured and stored within the school security camera system. This footage from security cameras in school can then be assessed to analyze what happened, identify the perpetrators involved and recreate the timeline of events. This can prove to be crucial in solving investigations both for the school security team and, if applicable, local law enforcement. School security camera footage can also be used for training purposes, especially when it comes to emergency preparedness and incident response workflows.

Provides visual verification for access activities

The best security cameras for school integrate with existing access control systems to provide enhanced security. As a result, the security team can view real-time footage from security cameras in school to assess if the individual requesting access is authorized to enter the facility and is not an intruder using someone else’s access credentials fraudulently. All access activity and linked school CCTV footage are recorded on the activity log for reporting and investigatory purposes.

The best types of security cameras for schools and campuses

School perimeter, parking lots and sports fields

Monitoring outdoor environments, such as the school boundary line, parking lots and sports fields, can be quite a challenge. Low-lighting, crowds and vast spaces are just a few of the things that make monitoring these sites difficult for security. Therefore, it is essential that the school or college campus CCTV cameras installed in these locations address these challenges and make the duties of the school camera operators simpler. The recommendation for parking lot cameras or perimeter cameras are the pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) school camera, the bullet school camera and the license plate capture school camera.

School exit and entry spaces

Exit and entry spaces see a lot of traffic from students, staff and visitors, and distinguishing between those that are authorized to enter and exit from those who are intruding is no easy feat. These spaces are also likely to experience variable lighting, such as bright sunlight, which can affect the imagery obtained by the school security cameras and make viewing live school security camera footage difficult. The best security cameras for school exits and entries would be a video intercom system paired with a dome or bullet security camera for schools. With this combination, operators can benefit from multiple viewing angles and utilize the intercom to verify visitors, helping to keep facilities secure.

School hallways, classrooms, cafeterias and other indoor spaces

Hallways, cafeterias and libraries, along with classrooms and lecture halls, are busy areas within a school. With individuals constantly on the move and spaces such as these being both small and large, the best security cameras in school classrooms and other indoor spaces need to be versatile. At the same time, these cameras should not be obtrusive to the point where they make students, staff and visitors uncomfortable. While cameras in classrooms may have pros and cons, it is still important that security teams have awareness of what is happening in them in order to identify threats or potential incidents. There are a few camera types best suited to perform the requirements of effective video cameras in classrooms and other indoor environments such as the fisheye, multi-directional and corner school security cameras.

Ideas and best practices for school camera placement

Optimal camera placement is of utmost importance to ensure schools are protected and proper situational awareness is maintained. Security camera placement should enhance student and teacher safety while giving parents peace of mind. CCTV cameras should be utilized in areas that are vulnerable to potential acts of violence or crime and where intruders may attempt to enter the campus. When determining school security camera placement, consider these key spaces:

• Campus entrances
• Offices
• Classrooms
• Stadiums
• Parking lots
• Perimeters
• Cafeterias
• Loading and unloading zones
• Hallways and other common area

While security cameras are not allowed inside personal and private spaces like bathrooms, they may be placed at the entrances for safety purposes. For an additional layer of security coverage, modern vape detectors and smart sensors may be installed inside privacy-concern areas like bathrooms and locker rooms to detect potentially critical events.

The importance of effective video management software

Of equal importance to selecting the right type of security cameras in school, classrooms and campus sites is choosing the right video management software (VMS) to accompany your video security setup. VMS enables video security operators to record, view, save and export school security camera footage that is captured from the security cameras in the school. From identifying the right VMS features your security team needs to ensuring the software can integrate with your existing school security camera system and other solutions, procuring the right video management software can make a real difference in how effectively safety is delivered.

What to look for in an effective VMS

Ease of use: Nothing makes the job of a video security operator more frustrating than having to deal with a VMS that is complicated and not user-friendly. VMS should be easy to use so that even inexperienced security professionals can get onboarded quickly without much training. This particular benefit makes all the difference when it comes to dealing with an emergency, where a quick response from the operator is essential to avoiding a negative outcome. 

Scalability: It’s important to invest in a VMS that allows your security team to scale the school security camera system in the event that more school cameras are installed and further users need to be given software access. 

Search and export capabilities: Features that will allow the user to search for specific school security camera footage, or for specific objects of interest, can expedite the response and investigative process. Once the required footage is found, the clip may need to be passed onto another department or local law enforcement as evidence. Therefore, it is essential that the VMS allows the user to export the footage safely and efficiently. 

Integration capabilities: By integrating your existing CCTV in schools with the VMS, you are helping to improve efficiency and enhance safety, as operators will be able to view and manage school CCTV footage from their VMS. Aside from the school security camera system, if the VMS integrates with other security solutions, such as a school security alarm system and access control technologies, users can utilize one centralized platform to monitor all the different solutions, leading to improved efficiency.

Cloud-capable: According to a 2020 study in Campus Safety Magazine, only 31% of all respondents stated that they are using cloud technology to deliver video security management to remotely monitor events at their school. By utilizing a cloud-capable VMS, school security teams can take advantage of its flexible nature by accessing security camera footage at any time, from anywhere. This means your security operators can monitor events using the cloud security cameras in school without having to be restricted to the control room. Schools and colleges can also scale their school security camera system easily while saving on hardware costs that would be associated with an on-premise solution. 

Compliance with policies: It’s vital that the VMS complies with local laws in order to protect the privacy of students, staff and visitors. Ensuring that the school safety software has strong resistance to hacking attempts, follows specific footage retention policies and provides a secure process to sharing sensitive information can help to strengthen security posturing, as well as make the job of the video security team simpler.
 

Legality of school security cameras

There are legal considerations that must be taken into account when deciding where to place security cameras and which features to use. For example, it is illegal in some jurisdictions to record audio without the consent of the people present. Additionally, students, teachers, administrators and other school staff have a right to privacy that must be respected, which means that security cameras cannot be installed in bathrooms and locker rooms. 

With legal considerations in mind, there are security solutions that can detect critical events like bullying, fighting or smoking without relying on video. For schools seeking an extra layer of security in privacy-sensitive areas where video security isn’t allowed, smart sensors like the HALO Smart Sensor offer a valuable alternative by detecting threats without the need for video.

Regardless of which security solutions are implemented, it is vital to establish and maintain a clear line of communication about school security camera usage to help foster a healthy level of trust between students, teachers, administrators and security staff while creating a welcoming learning environment. School security teams should maintain a video surveillance camera policy with a statement of purpose for security camera usage. Best practice also dictates that this policy should include a consent provision, the roles and responsibilities of individuals with access to the security camera and footage, as well as how long that footage will be kept and how it will be destroyed.

Reimagining school safety

As schools and college campuses continue to adopt a variety of security solutions ﹣ from video security and school door locks to radio communications and resource mapping software ﹣ it is important that security teams and administrators are able to easily and effectively manage all of them. When choosing security technology companies for your school, it’s important to consider whether investing in separate systems or using an all-in-one solution is a better fit for your facilities. Security technology ecosystems can provide educational facilities with the ability to:

1 – Detect incidents with their school security camera system and access control solutions

2 – Analyze events with analytics and resource mapping software

3 – Communicate using radios

4 – Respond to incidents and complete end-to-end incident reports

By unifying wider security platforms with the school security camera system, schools and campuses can detect, analyze, communicate and respond to events more effectively which helps to create safer schools that are conducive to learning.