Benton Harbor High School will soon have a new security camera system. Following a special CEO meeting on Thursday, Benton Harbor Area Schools Chief of Operations Troy Boone told WSJM News a South Bend company is being hired to install 250 HD-quality cameras.
“We have so many blind spots in the building, and this will eliminate all of that to make it easier for our security staff to do their job properly,” Boone said.
Boone said the cameras will cover almost all areas.
“The level of coverage is going to be all locations with the exceptions of the locker rooms and restrooms,” Boone said. “You name it. Lobbies, offices, classrooms, new student commons, old student commons, everywhere. The gym, the PAC, behind stage, up on the balcony. Everywhere you can think, there will be a camera.”
That includes outside. Boone said the old camera system had about 80 cameras of lower quality going back about 15 years. The new system will store footage for 30 days, and all of the monitors and server space will be in the security area of the building. The $358,000 cost will come out of the $2 million federal gang prevention grant from 2016. District CEO Robert Herrera told us about $600,000 of that remains, and will all be spent by the end of June. The new camera system will be installed next week, and Herrera said the teacher’s union president spoke with teachers to be sure having cameras in the classrooms would not be a controversy.
