Security cameras on trial at Colfax High School

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Feb 23, 20120

In response to a series of reported thefts and break-ins, two web-accessible cameras with four lenses each were installed at Colfax High School for a 60-day trial period.

One of the four-directional cameras is in the high school foyer while the other is on the north side of the building facing the parking lot and playing fields.

The discounted value of the two-megapixel per lens cameras, including mounting and software, is roughly $4,000. The district has not paid anything for them, as it is a free trial, according to Supt. Michael Morgan.

Provided by A-Tec of Spokane, the cameras activate when they detect movement. The camera facing the parking lot is programmed to record when someone walks by or a car pulls in.

Supt. Michael Morgan said they are now discovering the sensitivity level of the cameras. When the hallway pop machine in the foyer cycles to keep the drinks cool, a light comes on, and the camera starts to record.

The outside camera activates when it detects flashing lights on Buck Canyon Grade.

“That was part of the idea, finding what works and what doesn’t,” said Morgan. “We are recording more than we want to record.”

Supt. Morgan said the cameras aren’t necessarily for detecting crimes.

“I’m really in it to prevent it from happening in the first place,” he told the school board Feb. 13. “We just wanted to try some things. The likelihood of us going with $4,000 cameras is low.”

So far the student reaction has been tentative.

“It’s kind of necessary but it seems like an invasion of privacy,” said ASB president, senior Brandon Soncarty. “But I think students would welcome them if people stop stealing from lockers. So right now we’re not sure about (the cameras) because we haven’t seen them work yet.”

The footage data is stored on servers at the high school and police will have access.

At the 30-day point of the trial period, the school will have the option to modify the cameras. For example, school officials may want to try another configuration, other than the 180-degree camera outside and the 360-degree camera inside.

Morgan said that the recent locker room thefts are part of a pattern which prompted the exploration of the cameras idea.

A theft from the locker room is reported about every other week at the school, and money was stolen from the office this year, along with an incident of vandalism in the parking lot.

It is illegal to put a camera in a locker room, but it’s permitted to locate one outside the door to monitor who is coming and going.

Morgan said that administrators intentionally had the cameras installed during a school day, so the students would see them put in place. If school officials elect to keep them, there is a $130 annual update fee for the license.

There will also be stickers placed in the windows to give notice the cameras are present.

Many larger high schools around the state have had cameras for the past 20 years or so. Many more got them after the series of school shootings in the late-1990s. Grants were made available for schools which had a certain level of criminal activity.

“We have never had enough problems to even apply for the grants that are out there,” Morgan said.

Cameras are in more widespread use on school buses, rotating from one bus to the next in a district.

“We have not gone to buses but intend to in the future,” Morgan said.