The school districit also wanted to support HD quality images to more effectively manage behaviour and prevent vandalism. The system had to be expandable in the future and accommodate additions such as the access control technology the district hopes to deploy within one or two years.

The Milestone Xprotect VMS open platform allows the schools to manage 1,169 video cameras from a mix of manufacturers and the installation runs on IBM and Dell servers. The cameras are installed at points where break-ins commonly occur and in areas where students gather that are the most problematic.

“This system makes each campus safer for students and staff. We now have the level of visual communication we need to resolve most problems before they arise,” said Mike Cho, Safety and Security Coordinator, San Diego Unified School District.  

The Milestone video platform has paid off by dramatically reducing the amount of time required to administer the system and to train users and by reducing the vandalism that demands costly repairs.  Further savings are achieved by reducing the number of staff members needed to physically monitor so many areas. According to district administrators, the system has improved conduct across the board by providing high-definition (HD) images that make identifying and charging perpetrators a much less arduous process than it was before.

“Since they’ve noticed that they’re being monitored, the students’ behaviour has improved,” says Cho. “They know that every action occurring in the common areas is being recorded.”

At the school that once had a real graffiti problem, tagging has been reduced by 80 percent since the new systems went live, which has also lessened the amount of time district painters spend at the school covering the graffiti. The chances of a rival gang coming to mark the territory as its own have been lowered, as has the violence that often occurs when encountering each other at a graffiti site.

From a security perspective, the problem with such a large district is that it is not unusual for a fight to break out while the school’s dedicated police officer is responding to a different incident in another area. With cameras and the Milestone platform at work, the officer can use the video to determine how many back-up officers are needed at which spots.

Students don’t always tell the full story after an incident.  In one case, a student punched another student in the face a number of times. Each witness interviewed by administrators after the incident had slightly different recollections, but the video provided the evidence needed to charge the perpetrator in court.

Cho reports that the system manager loves the Milestone system because it can be more easily and quickly managed. Under the previous system, programming one camera required navigating two separate operating systems. Milestone cuts that time in half.

“Plus, I can view it remotely with my iPad!” says Cho. ”With the previous system there was enough time to go get coffee between starting it and being able to log on. With Milestone, you just click and you’re on. It’s beautiful.”