Carmen-Ainsworth High School Cameras to Be Linked to Flint Township Police

As school security and polices change, one of Flint, Mich.'s school districts will be taking a new approach to protecting its students.

According to district officials, Carmen-Ainsworth High School will be linking its current video surveillance system to the Flint Township Police, in which the station resides just a few miles down the road.

The building currently has 30 cameras that monitor almost every corner of the school. The cameras watch the doors and hallways of the building. They are installed alongside the exterior doors and rooftop to monitor who is coming and going from the school building. This new strategy will allow police officers to see what is going on in the event of an incident without actually having to enter the building.

If the school were to have an unexpected lock down, police officers can drive into the parking lot and access the system on their laptops installed in their cruisers. They will be able to see everything the cameras are recording.

Although the Flint Township police department have been installing newer surveillance systems through out the busy shopping district, the school has been using its own safety surveillance. However, the school's patrolling officer has been keeping an eye on its safety through the school cameras despite different systems being used.

How does the surveillance work? The cameras are activated by movement. Any movement is then video recorded and stored to a hard drive where it will reside for at least 30 days.

It's been a useful tool when confronting students of unethical activity. Fact or fiction? Superintendent Russ Parks describes one of the first accounts caught on tape as a way of justice within student bodies.

"We had a student who was stealing lunch foods. He denied any theft. It was then we told him we had proof and he didn't believe us. We showed him the tape, proving he was guilty in committing the crime."

Not only will it help instances such as that, fights are common among students. The surveillance cameras will allow officials and principals to see what exactly happen in the event a student gets into a fight. No fighting is good fighting, but bullies sometimes take the first step in engaging into a physical fight either by taunting the other person or shoving them. No matter what each person involved may say, if stories don't match up, Carmen-Ainsworth has the ability to find out just exactly what happened.

Flint Township police are hoping that the school will replace the current outdoor cameras to be able to zoom in and capture infrared images. The cameras would be supplied by the police and could cost the school over $10,000.