Creating Safer and More Respectful Learning Environments Through Heightened Security

By Julie Brown, Executive Director Business of Transformation - Services, Johnson Controls

It may sound like a small change, but installing security cameras on a property can significantly impact occupant and visitor behavior by enabling more accountability. This is notable for environments such as K-12 schools where occupants are younger and more impulsive.

A public school system on the East Coast faced frequent incidents of bullying, vandalism and theft among students as well as harassment of faculty and staff and was struggling to keep its occupants accountable. The lack of visibility in back parking lots or school pick-up areas prevented administrators from monitoring student whereabouts and activity on school grounds both during and outside of learning hours. In addition, members of the general public were often walking through school property when students were outside, making it more difficult for staff to control and oversee these high traffic areas to ensure students are safe from strangers and not misbehaving.

A Tailored Solution for Every School

The school leadership brought in Johnson Controls to install solutions to mitigate these problems. The Johnson Controls team conducted a careful audit of the situation, meeting with principals from each school in the district, who walked them through the campus to identify problem areas. The team also brought the customer to their Customer Experience Center in Austin, TX to discuss all the possible solutions available that would meet their needs.

The school and Johnson Controls determined that the best way to address the issue at hand was through heightened video surveillance. They installed several cameras of various styles – fish-eye, 4-way and PTZ – to monitor the environment and reduce potential blind spots in problem areas. By maintaining open communication with school district officials, security service professionals for the school district and county commissioners, Johnson Controls was able to ensure that the project stayed on track with their timeline throughout its duration. Although their No. 1 priority was security, school district leaders sought to add thermal cameras, portable air filters and access control solutions as well to create healthier and more productive learning environments for students, teachers and staff.

Creating a More Productive Learning Environment

As anticipated, the school district was able to reduce vandalism, harassment, bullying and loitering by increasing visibility and accountability. With the new video system, there are minimal blind spots, allowing school administrators to identify the perpetrators creating issues on campus. In addition, theft of school property has reduced to almost nothing, and the few incidents that did occur post-installation were easily identified on the cameras.

All occupants, including students and faculty, are now safer on campus and have peace of mind knowing their belongings can be kept safely on school property. As a result, the school district was able to create a more productive and welcoming environment to teach and learn, and leaders within the district can focus on their primary mission of educating and empowering.

For more information on tailored security solutions for K-12 environments, click here.