Louisiana School District Uses Cameras To Protect Schools

In 2008, a high school in Ascension Parish Louisiana was vandalized, which sparked a big change in how school officials handled security. The school board installed surveillance cameras in all public high schools to ensure the safety and security of students, teachers and staff.

The surveillance cameras were placed at strategic locations throughout the schools as a matter of security and safety of property.

Donaldsonville High School Principal Esrom Pitre said there have been some break-ins since the cameras installation, but the suspects were caught on camera.

“We were able to apprehend the suspects coming out of two classrooms,” Pitre said.

Donaldsonville was the first school in the district to deploy surveillance cameras, all of which were positioned so Pitre could see what was going on at any campus at any given time.

The security cameras are powered by a video management system from Video Insight.

The principal at Dutchtown High School said he is already learning new ways to use the system.

“We can instruct teachers, have your classes use this stairwell because all the others are trying to do through the middle hallway and it’s crowded,” said Principal David Alexander. “Essential to learning is that everybody feel physically and emotionally safe.”

The Video Insight VMS solution provides map and floor plan-based navigation, along with Web browser user interface. It also supports unlimited locations and security cameras. Even for security systems already in place or those in planning, the VMS supports both analog and IP cameras.

Video Insight VMS solutions are installed in more than 4,500 K-12 and college campuses, and offers easy navigation using multi-layered maps and floor plans.

“Our VMS solution is perfect for schools because it allows the district to use its current IT infrastructure,” said Robert Shaw, president and CEO of Video Insight. “Our platform is built on open standards using Microsoft .Net and SQL server, and we offer a U.S.-based technical service team.”

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