District sets policy on surveillance cams
By Miguel Morales miguel@theacorn.com

A new pair of eyes may be watching students at schools throughout Simi Valley next year.

A rewording of a school board policy will allow campuses to be monitored by surveillance cameras. According to staff reports, Simi Valley Unified School District believes "reasonable use of surveillance cameras will help the district achieve its goals for campus security."

Janice DiFatta, school board president, said the main goal of the new district policy is to keep students on campus safe. The implementation of onsite security cameras will help school administrators capture evidence of incidents, including fights and vandalism, she said.

The cameras will also act as another pair of eyes for the police department's student resource officers, who are charged with monitoring all schools in Simi.

"Nobody can predict what may occur," DiFatta said. "But when it does occur, having something in place to capture it will help us go after the perpetrators."

DiFatta noted incidents around the country where children have been abducted "right around the corner" from their schools and how lives could have been saved had there been a camera there to catch the criminal in the act.

"It's sad to hear the news and see young adults and even younger children get hurt or taken advantage of," DiFatta said. "This is a measure that will hopefully prevent that from happening to our children."

The policy states that cameras will not be placed in areas where students, staff or community members are expected to have privacy rights, and all audio equipment will be disabled. Signs will be posted on campuses where surveillance is taking place so students, faculty and classified employees will know they're being watched.

Past acts of vandalism caught on tape at schools including Valley View Elementary have proven the system's worth, according to Lowell Shultze, associate superintendent of business and facilities.

The cameras will be placed as inconspicuously as possible, he said. It's not the district's intention to invade anyone's privacy, Shultze added, explaining that the surveillance will be used reactively, not proactively.

"Nobody is sitting behind a screen all day monitoring each school's activity," Shultze said. "That's not the purpose of this tool."

Access to the cameras would be available online to only a small number within the district, Shultze said. Principals and a few staff members at each school will have the greatest authority over the surveillance system, he said.

The recordings are to be used primarily for disciplinary purposes at schools but may be used by the Simi Valley Police Department to aid them in investigations of more serious crimes.

According to Lt. Gregory Riegert, who oversees the police department's special problems section, student resource officers will have access to video taken at schools.

Many schools already have surveillance equipment in place that in recent months has helped police arrest several suspects responsible for vandalizing a local school.

The locations of many cameras are being kept secret as knowledge of their locations would allow criminals to evade detection, Riegert said.

"It's a great deterrent of crime when someone thinks they are being watched," Riegert said.

To pick up a copy of the policy visit the district offices located at 3347 Tapo Canyon Road.