CHARLESTON, W.Va — When schools open in Kanawha County on Friday, the county’s new security camera system will get its first test after significant upgrades were installed over the summer.
The Kanawha County Board of Education voted in May to spend more than $8.6 million dollars on the new system from Advance Technology, streamlining security across all schools after cameras were previously split across two systems and allowed for limited points of access.
“Now everybody’s just under one umbrella, and it makes it so much easier for everybody to just navigate between all the schools,” Kanawha County Schools Director of Security Bryan Carper said.
Installation of the new system remains a work in progress, and once that is complete, additional setup is required on the backend. Carper said one of the biggest undertakings is clearly identifying each camera in the system in a way that is easy to understand.
“We’re moving along. We have a long way to go still, especially on the backend, so just installing is one aspect,” Carper said. “Now, we have to label the cameras for it to make sense to everybody.”
One new feature that comes with the upgrades is the ability to create a blueprint of camera locations across the county. Once the cameras are placed on the map, users will be able to view real-time, live feeds from each one.
“We have to also now add them to an overlay blueprint map that will be interactive. We’ll be able to hover over a blueprint that will have the cameras labeled and marked, and you’ll actually be able to hover over it and see a live feed into that camera,” Carper said.
Additionally, the new system provides alerts for KCS to perform maintenance on cameras when required. Previously, there was no way to know a camera was not functioning properly until a user attempted to view its feed.
“I think we have 4,500 cameras, and if one goes down on the old system, we didn’t know it or realize it until somebody went and physically looked for that camera. Now, it alerts us,” Carper said.
First responders and law enforcement now have much easier access to security footage as well. School resource officers will be able to utilize the new system, as well as necessary police and emergency management.
“All the SROs will have access to them. The police departments will have access to the ones within their jurisdictions, and then, of course, Metro 911 will have access to all of them, so that’s a big difference,” Carper said.