More surveillance cameras have been installed on campus by the UC High administrative staff to improve campus security and resolve any remaining concerns with safety.

    Vice Principal Jo McGlin recalled, “It took a little over a year for the district to actually get cameras approved and installed, but these new cameras are currently installed and they are up and running.”

   The cameras were installed with the intention of enforcing the safety of students and all persons on the UC High campus. McGlin stated, “The cameras are monitored 24/7 and the school police have access to them [nights and weekends included].”

    According to Counselor Kelsey Bradshaw, “The purpose of these cameras is so that the school can monitor any suspicious or unsafe activities.” Bradshaw estimated that the cost of the new cameras was around 15,000 dollars.

   According to the National Center for Education Statistics, “More than 80 percent of public schools — and more than 94 percent of high schools — in the U.S. use security cameras to monitor students” (districtadministration.com).

   The Security Sales and Integration website reports that “Security cameras are useful in lost-and-found investigations, to verify the facts about incidents, to determine the number of officers needed to respond to a situation, in training, to locate missing persons, to back-up or refute children’s versions of incidents, and in conflict resolution” (securitysales.com).

   According to a Scholastic organization report, “…when there are school video surveillance cameras installed in school parking lots, potential perpetrators may think twice before committing a crime. About 60 percent convicted burglars stated the presence of a security camera system influenced their decision to look for another easy target. If a student got robbed, the images and videos captured by school security cameras are useful for investigating vandalism or violence. With evidence, the criminals can be caught by the police much more easily” (scholastic.com).

   These cameras also have the potential to help deter instances of bathroom vaping at UC High; however, this is not the camera’s primary intention. McGlin explained, “These cameras are not aimed at, around or into the bathrooms, because that is illegal. However, we do have a camera in the quad and it does record down near the P.E. classes. I could zone in down to those parts of the campus, but, there are no cameras intentionally aimed at the student bathrooms.”

   The UC High administrative staff will continue to expand and upgrade the camera system to improve overall campus safety and security. Bradshaw stated, “We [the UC High administrative staff] are in the process of trying to get some more cameras. We are also trying to upgrade the cameras that we already have because the quality of the old cameras can be a little grainy and fuzzy.”