June 2010

Lessons in school security

Undoubtedly, schools and colleges have to face up to disruption caused by vandalism, arson attacks and criminals. There is also the threat of physical assault if intruders venture onto school grounds and even the potential, in an increasingly uncertain world, for hostage situations to develop. Given the challenges they face it is not surprising that schools are turning to CCTV, which they can then integrate with the likes of access control, physical security measures and guarding to enhance security, says Pauline Norstrom, Chairman of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA)'s CCTV Section.

Event driven CCTV
One approach, which is becoming increasingly attractive for educational establishments, is British Standard BS8418-compliant, remotely monitored, detector activated CCTV. This intelligent, event-driven approach is seen as preferable to conventional continuously recorded CCTV images as it facilitates action being taken at the time of an incident rather than simply providing footage for review once the real damage has been done. Remotely monitored, detector activated CCTV is a competitive and reliable solution for on-site security overnight and can best be described as a combination of alarms, perimeter detectors and body heat sensors linked to CCTV cameras and integrated into a system that will send images of intruders to a remote centre where that incident can be correctly managed.

This solution is demonstrated with the example of a potential incident that takes place late one evening involving an intruder scaling a fence at school before proceeding to attempt to break into a mobile classroom. Before his feet even touch the ground the intruder will have broken a perimeter beam, the CCTV camera monitoring that section of the fence will have already stored his image and the equipment will have transmitted his picture to an operator at a Remote Video Response Centre (RVRC) thus integrating the use of physical security measures (in this case the fence) with CCTV. The operator, even though they are situated many miles away, will issue an audio warning to the intruder through an on-site speaker. For most RVRCs this is a fairly ordinary incident. By using the advanced CCTV technology the operator is able to pre-empt any on-site damage. The incident could just as easily require police intervention and then the operator’s response and guidance to the police is crucial.

If someone decides to enter school grounds during the daytime armed with a knife, there is also the potential to have the system set up so if a teacher presses a suitably positioned panic button, operators at the RVRC can be alerted allowing them to receive critical images of the scene from an adjacent camera. Operators would then be able to inform the emergency services in the normal way, hopefully preventing the situation escalating into something more serious.

In terms of best practice, the BSIA has worked with other stakeholders to formulate a standard for remotely monitored, detector activated CCTV known as BS 8418. BS 8418 ensures that any installers and RVRCs adhering to the standard can provide the high level of security a customer expects from CCTV technology.

Seeing the bigger picture
The fact that schools and colleges tend to consist of a multiple buildings and may even cover a number of sites is also driving the adoption of solutions which aid the management and control of safety and security when staff and students are on site as well as out of hours.

A good example of this is the approach taken by Huddersfield Technical College, which has reaped the benefits of a networked CCTV solution based on equipment
supplied by a BSIA member company, which has greatly enhanced the ability of security officers to protect the premises.

The geographically dispersed college has four sites supporting 22,000 full and part-time students which are now covered by a digital CCTV solution that allows images from three remote sites to be sent back to a centralised control room at the college's main campus. The system has also been designed to enable additional locations to be added at a future later date. The project has allowed Huddersfield to move away from an outdated analogue, tape-based, infrastructure and instead adopt a digital video over Internet Protocol (IP) solution with Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) installed at the key locations, which allows them to utilise their IT network to send and receive images. The solution also enables the college to tailor the size of the images being transmitted to avoid network problems as well as a user-friendly interface to allow the intuitive interaction with the CCTV. For ease of operation, the DVRs installed can also be configured remotely from the main control room.

The college believes that the new 24-hour monitoring solution is a vast improvement allowing security staff to review images in seconds while still recording, whereas in the past they had to turn off half of the system to view a single analogue tape. In addition, because it is so intuitive, the time required to train operators has been dramatically reduced. There is even the potential for authorised personnel using suitable software to view CCTV images on a PC at home, which means that if there is a call out from the on-duty security officer at 3am, rather than having to travel to the site automatically an informed judgement can be made by looking at the images and deciding whether their presence is actually required.

In the future, Huddersfield Technical College sees the CCTV infrastructure as opening up the potential for income generation through a potential monitoring service for other schools and colleges in the area.

Integrated security focus at Reaseheath College
Turning to another example of effective site protection, Reaseheath College, Cheshire, worked with a BSIA member to improve its limited number of access control systems and CCTV cameras to enhance their security arrangement to be able to monitor their huge site for any potential problems as well as enabling out of hours access to certain areas of the campus.

Reaseheath College caters for 1,000 full-time and 6,000 part-time students and is set amongst 500 acres of farms, woodland and sporting facilities including its own golf course. A driving factor in the need to improve security came from the National Minimum Care Standard that the college is required to adhere to, in order to ensure that they are competent in their duty of care.

After consideration of the 500-acre site, cameras were installed within the college to ensure important access areas and rooms containing valuable equipment were monitored. Additional cameras were installed externally to monitor the activity of students and staff on site during the day, and to record any unusual activity out of hours.

In order to control and monitor the movement of people around specific areas of the site and to provide cost effective integration between the access control and CCTV elements of the security system, it was recommended that the college maximise on its original security investment whilst also enhancing the overall functionality of the system by upgrading and migrating to an integrated security management system.

Positive results

Newall Green High School in Manchester is also reaping real benefits after a BSIA member installed a CCTV system on its site. Since using the system, pupil attainment levels have increased and incidents of poor behaviour have dropped dramatically. The CCTV system made such a positive contribution to security, safety and education within the school in its first few months of operation that the headteacher ordered its expansion to cover the school's adjacent sixth form buildings.

In this case, the BSIA member worked with an ICT provider to develop and install an integrated CCTV solution that monitored classroom activity with real time video and audio recording as well as helping to secure internal and external areas of the building and ensure the safety of pupils and staff within a comfortable learning environment.

Security success
Putting the right security in place by integrating CCTV with the likes of access control, physical measures and security guards, it is possible to provide a safe and controlled environment for staff and students while also protecting the buildings and property from attack.

The British Security Industry Association (BSIA) is the professional trade association of the UK security industry. Its members produce over 70 per cent of the country’s security products and services to strict quality standards. For further information, visit www.bsia.co.uk. The BSIA operates a local rate helpline on 0845 389 3889.