AUSTIN, Texas-The Security business of GE Infrastructure (NYSE:GE) recently announced that DeKalb County Schools in metropolitan Atlanta installed 3,500 GE cameras and 220 digital video multiplexer recorders.
This major upgrade of its video surveillance systems will provide Ethernet connection capabilities to 140 schools and centers districtwide, eliminating the need for videotapes and LAN camera feeds. Each school will have its own control room to review and record events.
Every control room has two monitors – a 21-inch monitor for cameras 1-16, and a 17.4-inch plasma screen for cameras 17-32. A plasma screen doubles as a CPU monitor for review and access control.
Schools in the district are each outfitted with 32 to 48 cameras, with most located in public areas such as hallways, parking lots, cafeterias and school entrances. The cameras are integrated with the school’s access control system. The cameras are also used to prevent prospective problems.
A camera is placed at the front parent sign-in/out desk at every school, which helps diffuse potential outbursts. Ralph Dodson, the district’s security administrator, said the district set up a central control room that monitors all district facilities.
The master control room is located in a renovated section of the DeKalb County Schools Police Department. Police officers responding to alarms or incidents at the campus can view recorded images from laptop computers in their patrol cars. A Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funded the $8.9 million security upgrade.