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Campus protection services

Educational facilities are taking the next step into security with CCTV equipment. An increase in adolescent criminal behaviour in high schools and criminal offences in universities and colleges has been a nagging concern for many years. Reports of robberies, assault, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, fraud, theft, gang activities and vandalism are all issues facing our educational facilities today.

These issues have become diverse and unique in various schools and institutions in South Africa. Provision that students are safe on campus is the foremost responsibility of the institute. Students sometimes spend all day on campus bearing in mind residents of the institute. Not only does CCTV provide a safety measure for students, the head of the facility can now locate staff and monitor students and pupils’ behaviour as well.

Issues in larger universities include more muggings, assault and drug use. Even with security patrols the occasional incidents do occur. Students, who are mugged on campus, suspect the mugger to be another student. With access control ID cards, only students are allowed onto the campus, yet intruders do get in. This is why noticeable CCTV cameras in secluded areas are necessary together with immediate response from security guards. Another issue is drug abuse on the campus. Drugs are easily available on campus, mainly marijuana. Students may find an isolated area for drug use.

Once again, CCTV cameras with 24 hour monitored surveillance, is necessary. Other suspicious activities such as assault, theft and vandalism may also be monitored and CCTV camera footage may be useful, but security at the location may not be instant. Therefore, manned security is needed in many parts of the university. Security guards and CCTV monitoring work hand in hand. Other ways to prevent criminal activity on these premises are:

1. Lighting in dark, isolated areas.

2. Have cameras visible with possible signage – 24-hour video recording.

3. Visibility of guards in hot-spots.

4. 24-hour campus security patrol in certain areas.

5. Encouraging students to report crimes.

6. Regularly maintain or upgrade CCTV equipment.

7. Campus security services should campaign safety awareness and provide a guide to residents and students.

Frank Street has supplied many institutions with CCTV equipment, amongst them are; Emmerantia Primary School, St Barnabas College, Lenasia Muslim School and The University of Fort Hare. A local installer that completed installations for some of the schools, Yusuf Latib, says he has “received excellent feedback from the schools and that it has made a tremendous difference in security and management. The headmasters of the schools can now monitor activities, and theft has been reduced since the CCTV equipment has been installed”. Using Kodicom DVR, infrared cameras and software, suspicious activity can be picked up quickly, and stolen items can be tracked by playing back the recorded video data.

The university of Fort Hare was fitted with an IP solution comprising of 20 IP speed domes (36X) and five static cameras. The entire network used a wireless platform to transmit video, control and alarm signals. Integrated into the CCTV system are strategically placed emergency buttons linked to a radio transmitter. When an emergency button is pushed the corresponding camera automatically goes to the emergency button position. This integrated CCTV system allows security the ability to pinpoint problems in a much structured way.

The CCTV system has helped reduce sexual crimes and other crime related problems at the university. With the speed dome cameras being set on patrol, it has eased the guarding company’s routine patrol as the cameras are now the eyes of the campus. The ability of the cameras to zoom 250 m allows the security personnel to scan the entire campus and hostel areas. The video sent back to the server is recorded onto a 2 terabyte large capacity hard drive. All the recordings are archived onto the university’s main server in case there is a need to recall an incident.

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