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Surveillance at Silverton High School

For its first 12 years of occupancy, Silverton High School only had about 300 freshman on campus. Part of the Silver Falls School District in Silverton, Ore., the school was designed to be constructed in two phases. When a community bond was passed and the second phase was completed in 2009 – and the student population grew to 1200 students – the administration installed dozens of JVC V.Networks VN-C215E4U indoor network dome and VN-C215VP4U vandal-proof outdoor dome cameras, which are monitored through JVC VR-N1600U network video recorders (NVRs).

While the bond advisory committee was resistant at first to spend money on such an expansive IP-based video surveillance system, the general feeling now is that it was money well spent. “We have solved everything from theft to assaults to vandalism,” explained Mark Hannan, principal of Silverton High. “It has been absolutely the best part of this project in terms of taking care of our students’ welfare and safety.”

The security system purchase was justified before the second phase even opened for classes. Hannan said two juveniles broke into a new greenhouse structure during the construction process and stole several items. Using footage from JVC cameras that had already been installed, school officials were able to identify the suspects.

Apart from a few isolated incidents, Silverton High does not have significant disciplinary issues, though Hannan will sometimes use the surveillance system to verify student tardiness. He said the Milestone XProtect Smart Client video management software embedded within JVC’s VR-N1600U NVR is very easy to use, so he can quickly review footage from several different cameras in various zones across campus.

Before the second phase was built, Silverton High had very limited surveillance. In fact, Hannan would position a camcorder on a tripod to keep watch over the lunchroom during lunch hour. Now, cameras keep watch over the common areas on campus, including parking lots, inside halls, and the lunchroom. “There are very few blind spots in this facility now,” he said. “The eye in the sky is always watching.”

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