Safety trend: replacing people with cameras.Officials at a Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, high school will keep tabs on what is happening outside the building and in hallways without actually being there. New digital cameras are being installed this fall in Santee's West Hills High School. The high-tech cameras can send digital surveillance pictures to handheld PCs  An editor has expressed concern that this article or section is .Please help improve the article by adding information and sources on neglected viewpoints, or by summarizing and . The pictures can then be sent through the Web to police departments and computer monitors in police cars. Even futuristic fu·tur·is·tic adj. 1. Of or relating to the future. 2. a. Of, characterized by, or expressing a vision of the future: futuristic decor. b. facial recognition Noun 1. facial recognition - biometric identification by scanning a person's face and matching it against a library of known faces; "they used face recognition to spot known terrorists" automatic face recognition, face recognition software can be used to help school safety monitors weed weed, common term for any wild plant, particularly an undesired plant, growing in cultivated ground, where it competes with crop plants for soil nutrients and water. out students from strangers or help police identify strangers entering campus. West Hills Principal Jim Peabody says the cameras were installed to improve safety at school while decreasing the monitor staff that patrolled the school's 76-acre campus. The cameras were donated by PacketVideo Corp., a San Diego-based company that provided security surveillance for the Olympics in Utah. Last year, a student at Santana High School Santana High School, located in Santee, California, is part of the Grossmont Union High School District. The school serves 1,750 students in grades 9-12, as well as 84 faculty members. , three miles from West Hills, killed two students and wounded 13 others during a shooting spree. "This is a way to have more eyes on campus without increasing the number of people," says Peabody, who adds that vandals have caused trouble at the school recently. In addition to West Hills, about 15 percent of secondary schools in metropolitan areas are using cameras to monitor hallways and parking lots, says Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center. Schools should also consider privacy issues when deciding to install cameras. "The question that always comes up is how far do you go before going too far and invading in·vade v. in·vad·ed, in·vad·ing, in·vades v.tr. 1. To enter by force in order to conquer or pillage. 2. privacy?" Stephens says. Some community members have been concerned about the cameras, but Stephens says the cameras are only installed in common areas that would be patrolled by staff members anyway. "We have not put cameras in bathrooms or locker rooms or in classrooms," he says. The school still has counselors who work to resolve student disputes. And cost presents another problem, say school officials. Packet's SkyWitness system used at West Hills can run from $30,000 to $50,000. PacketVideo is mostly working with districts building new schools, said marketing director Ed Suski. While the system can be expensive, schools can use facial recognition software to take digital attendance rather than tying up staff time. In another use, the cameras can send pictures of school plays to handheld computers A computing device that can be easily held in one hand while the other hand is used to operate it. The Palm devices are a popular example. See Palm, smartphone and palmtop. for parents who must stay home or away on business trips. www.packetvideo.com. |
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