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LR School District Introduces High-tech Surveillance Method Pamela Smith Little Rock - The Little Rock School District beefs up security in the wake of escalating school violence across the country. A high-tech ground-breaking surveillance method will be used in conjuction with other safety measures already in place. It's supposed to be one of the safe-havens, a school campus, but as we witnessed in Colorado not even children are immune to violence and not even campuses in the heartland like those in Arkansas. The most recent wakeup call is in Ohio.
(Officer Bruce Jones, LR Police Dept.)"With Columbine, Jonesboro and now Cleveland happening last week, school shootings, for us to make an informed response to a school can save lots of time." The informed response to Little Rock School District campuses was made possible, thanks to 700 cameras in buildings district-wide. The cameras are now linked real-time directly to the police department. (Bobby Jones, Director of Safety and Security, LRPD)"It's unfortunate that we have to do these things in light of what's going on in the world today, those are the steps you have to take." The new Honeywell Fusion Unit is a closed circuit surveillance system that police will monitor during emergencies. (Jones)"Allows us as police officers to be able to review a large portion of the building." Operated in the 26-thousand student district by the district's safety and security department. And is the first of its kind installed in an Arkansas school system, conceivably, the first in the country. (Jones)"If we can save a child's life with this or help an officer respond more appropriately then that's what we want to do." The district spent about half a million to install the cameras and software; the cost was minimal for the police. But when it comes to saving lives it’s still a small price to pay.
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