Lessons in security

Local authorities are also ever more conscious of the need to protect children from nuisance visitors during school hours and there is the growing menace of drug dealing around school environs.

Some schools are finding their insurance premiums are rocketing and finding it difficult to get insurance unless specific security measures are implemented.

Traditional fencing and physical security measures are still solving some of the problems.

Said Keith Greenhalgh, marketing director of perimeter security company, Fairmile Fencing:
"At one time a sturdy fence erected in front of a building was enough to spread the message 'This is private property, keep out.' Nowadays, with intruders operating sophisticated cutting equipment, schools which have not invested in high quality perimeter security are suffering the effects. Insurance companies now require businesses and educational institutions to go to great lengths to protect their premises, otherwise they will not take the risk of insuring them. Physical security barriers are as important now as they ever have been."

Although physical barriers have to be robust they can't have sharp edges or features which could cause injury. They must be a deterrent to intruders but also be visually acceptable.

Two years ago Fairmile installed Palisade fencing to protect a number of Manchester schools that were suffering badly from vandalism. The fencing had a dramatic effect in reducing vandalism and crime at the schools.

But electronic protection in the form of access control to seal off different security zones and CCTV to deter, warn of and record security breaches (and even chemically coded water to protect equipment ...see page 33) is bringing much new business to installers.

Inevitably CCTV is seen as the major deterrent in the fight against burglary and vandalism on school premises and digital technology is making a big difference.

Arson attack recorded
One school in South Yorkshire is giving pupils the "full picture" of their crimes and misdemeanors.

In November of last year, while hosting the local church fair, Hatfield Secondary School near Doncaster, South Yorkshire suffered an arson attack on an assembly hall.

The attack was recorded through the CCTV system and South Yorkshire CID subsequently identified and arrested a youth. The recorded images made by the Octar digital recorder from Visimetrics were made available to the audio-visual unit of Thorne CID within 20 minutes after power had been restored to the school's main building and in less than 24 hours officers were able to make an arrest.

   Good images
Said Det Constable Simon Honeybone, of Thorne CID: "There's no shadow of a doubt that the footage recorded on the Octar has helped us to identify the youth and has been the main focus of our enquiry. Without footage from the cameras I don't think we would have got very far with our enquiries."

Jim Butterley, Premises Officer, who is responsible for the security system at Hatfield School was first on the scene when the alarms went off. He said: "We have some very good images of the incident. It clearly shows two youths probably no older than seven and 14 years of age respectively, getting into the assembly hall and, seconds after they leave, thick black smoke is seen billowing out of the door behind them. We have recorded footage of them all over the school through 20 different cameras."

The fire caused an estimated £1.9 million pounds worth of damage, and the school is now considering demolishing and rebuilding the assembly hall.

Hatfield School with its 1200 pupils and 80 teachers is situated on a 40-acre site. Butterley and his team manage a 49-camera CCTV system; the 40 internal cameras are connected to three Octar systems and since last summer the nine external cameras are connected to an Octar Compact. The school now records all cameras round the clock.

Digital makes a difference
Previously all recordings were made on to videotape; the digital system was installed approximately 18 months ago and is making a difference. His decision to go digital was an easy one to make. He said: "There are no tapes, you can't forget to rewind a tape, you don't have to spend hours bent double over a VCR trying to find a bit of footage. Instead I can sit at my desk, work on the computer and in a couple of clicks I've found the footage I want and can print it out instantly."

Another recent incident occurred where two pupils broke into the cleaner's storeroom and took two sets of master keys. This incident was recorded and within 15 minutes they were handing the keys back. Butterley gave them the option to see what they had done by replaying them the recording or to just hand over the keys – he says there was no argument.

He continues: "There are some places where we can't put cameras, such as changing rooms, however, we have put cameras at the entrances to these areas. We had an incident where a couple of pupils were stealing from the changing rooms. We caught them with the help of Octar, where we have footage of them entering and leaving the area when they shouldn't have been."

Since the system was installed the school has also been able to catch pupils who were breaking into a disused bungalow within the school grounds and causing criminal damage.

The staff agree that the system is also helping to cut down incidents of bad behaviour by pupils. If there has been an incident during a lesson, the teacher can go to Butterley and ask to see footage from their classroom. Once given the time and date the incident occurred, Butterley quickly and easily finds the footage, stops at the relevant place and gives the teacher a print of the image. The teacher can then show the pupil the image and get them to behave.

The security system does not stop bullying but, at least, it helps everyone to address the problem if somebody is caught on camera bullying another child. Butterley concludes the school "could not live" without the system. He added: "The staff at Visimetrics are brilliant, particularly James Rigg. If we have a problem or query with the Octar system, James is always happy to help."

School's picture problem
All types of schools are benefiting from the speed and convenience of digital technology. One of the UK's leading independent schools has upgraded its VHS system to digital.

Founded in 1888, St Dunstans is an HMC co-ed independent day school in south east London with more than 1000 pupils and staff. Already a believer in the benefits of CCTV, St Dunstans has replaced its existing five-camera black and white system and VHS video recording with a new colour system featuring the latest digital technology from Loronix.

Ron Elliot, assistant bursar at the school explains: "Our old system was useful up to a point, but suffered from poor picture quality. Recorded images on video were often difficult to discern, and not very helpful to the police. The videos had been re-recorded so many times, that the picture quality suffered as a result.

If there is an incident a teacher can ask to see the footage and quickly gets a print ... the teacher can show the pupil the print – and this gets them to behave!

"We were convinced of the benefits of CCTV overall. It is a useful deterrent, and gives children, their parents and our staff increased confidence about their security. What we needed, however, was a more effective system that gave us higher picture quality, and where we didn't have to remember to change the video every day!"

£60,000 invested in system
From its own resources the school decided to invest some £60,000 in a new system installed by Link Security comprising some 16 fixed and controllable cameras, mounted at various strategic points around the site. This includes all of the major entry and exit points, the main school gates, the playgrounds and the perimeter.

In the St Dunstans' example, images from each camera are digitally recorded onto CD using Loronix' CCTVWare, 24 hours a day at one frame per second and kept for 14 days before automatically being re-written. All of the information can be accessed via a standard PC in the Bursar's office. (CCTVWare has the capacity to record up to six images per second, using wavelet technology, and storing those images for an unlimited period.)

Elliot said the CCTVware system answered the need for an easy to use, fully automated system that they could "install and forget".

The system was an immediate success … whilst the technology was being installed an incident was recorded which led to a successful conviction.

Loronix' MD, David Watts said: "Video images can be instantly retrieved and viewed by date, time or other criteria using a standard Pentium PC. No human intervention is required, which is something that is particularly beneficial at St Dunstans."

Parkland youths deterred
One vandal-hit primary school has benefited from a total security package approach provided free by Chubb.

Ravensdale Junior School in Derby, situated next to parkland on the West side of the town, had suffered repeatedly from youths hanging around in the park and gaining entry to the school grounds.

David Cooper, Headteacher of Ravensdale Junior School, comments on the installation: "Restless youngsters who hang out in the park seem to be attracted by our school. Built in the1960s, it is a flat-roofed structure with a lot of glass windows, and we have suffered in the past from bottles being smashed on the playground, plants being up-rooted, and people clambering over the roof in an attempt to gain access into the building. We have three gates, but most of the perimeter of the school is surrounded by hedges, so people can find their way in quite easily."

To combat the problem, Chubb is providing free-of-charge CCTV and Remote Video Response monitoring.

Chubb was initially approached by the school to provide an answer to deterring the youths and vandals who stray onto school premises after dark. Local Authority budgets would normally prohibit the large investment that security equipment demands, but Chubb was keen to support such a worthy cause.

Colin Waiters from Chubb Monitoring and Response Services explained: "Ravensdale Junior School provided the perfect opportunity for us to help out the local community by donating equipment, and to simultaneously demonstrate the effectiveness of our solutions."

State-of the art CCTV cameras with remote monitoring have been installed conspicuously on the outside of the building, focusing on playground and entranceway areas. An additional internal camera has been installed, to monitor specifically the IT Suite which was newly installed in December.

Remote monitoring
The system enables the site to be monitored remotely by Chubb's own central station in Gloucester. In the case of an alarm, live images from the cameras are automatically transmitted to the control centre. The latest transmission technology from Vision Systems ADPRO combines the fastest transmission of digitally-compressed, quality colour or monochrome pictures with simultaneous bi-directional audio communication over standard or digital telephone lines. Images are reviewed by a trained operator and any cause for concern will receive a swift response either in the form of a call to the police or a key holder, or an audio warning message on the site itself.

Since the installation of the cameras, the Headteacher has had a few calls from the RVRC in Gloucester reporting intruders, but there have been no offences. Chubb installed an audio system as part of the package, which means that any individuals behaving suspiciously on the site will be loudly informed that they are being watched and warned against going any further. If any illegal actions are spotted, the police are called to the site immediately and the monitoring equipment gives a timed and dated visual record that can be used as evidence in court if necessary.

System ended holiday worries
Said Headteacher, David Cooper: "We desperately needed an effective deterrent. Although some may regard vandalism and theft to be petty crimes, a school cannot afford to pay out for the consequences.

"Once these cameras were installed, I was able to lock up the site for the Christmas holidays, feeling safe in my mind that in the case of any problems, prompt action would be taken."

Aside from the protection of the site itself, the security of the 303 pupils cannot be underestimated. Chubb's surveillance system also has the capacity to monitor the area and pick up on any individuals loitering outside the gates or attempting to speak to children.

Chubb carried out the installation through the summer holidays for minimum disruption to school routine. Said Cooper: "Chubb worked calmly and efficiently throughout. We were always kept informed and given progress updates at regular intervals so that we knew what to expect.

"Any work that went on during term time was done smoothly and unobtrusively, although the children now take an active interest in the cameras and the pictures they take!"

He said Chubb had far exceeded his school's expectations and provided a comprehensive and effective package, for which they are very grateful.

Colin Waiters from Chubb concluded: " … with Ravensdale Junior School we can really feel that we have made a difference. It is important for us to contribute to the community and raise security levels, and with the free of charge donation of our technology and equipment to this project we have achieved this."

Playing tag at nursery
The protection of the children themselves becomes even more crucial at nursery school age.

   Technology developed to protect high street theft is being adopted by nurseries in Scotland to protect the children in their care.

   RF (radio frequency) tagging is now being examined by other nurseries across the UK.