According to the results of a recent survey, 72 percent of U.S. adults say they are in favour of using security cameras in schools, an increase of 7 percentage points over a similar survey conducted last year. The survey, which was independently conducted on behalf of Eagle Eye Networks, polled 1,500 respondents regarding their views on cameras in schools ranging in grade level from preschool through college.
In addition to gauging overall support for cameras in schools, the “School Security Camera System Report” also examined several other areas with regards to the use of video surveillance on campuses including; the perceived positives of video surveillance; video surveillance concerns; who should be able to view video; camera location priorities; desired length of storage; and, video storage location preferences (on-site vs. cloud).
An overwhelming majority of survey respondents also felt that parents should be able to view video of their children at preschool and daycare (77 percent) as well as in K-12 schools (72 percent). However, opinions varied over exactly when parents should be allowed to view video of their kids at school. Just over 50 percent of respondents said that parents should able to view video of their children anytime they want inside preschool and daycare centers, but only slightly more than 30 percent believed parents should be able to do so in K-12 facilities. Nearly 40 percent of respondents said that parents should be allowed to view video footage from K-12 schools if there is an incident involving their children while 24 percent indicated they should be able to do at preschool and daycare facilities.
There were also differences among respondents when it came to what schools should be using video surveillance for. Only 46 percent of those surveyed believed that schools should be using video to improve student behavior, while a majority, 64 percent, believed that it should be used for identifying perpetrators of criminal acts and post-incident investigation. Another 59 percent of respondents said that video should be used to provide real-time insights during emergencies and 57 percent said cameras should be used to deter crimes. Nearly 8 in 10 respondents believed it was important that first responders be granted real-time access to school surveillance cameras.
