have begun to rely more on cameras to monitor student and bus driver behavior. Te attention given to bullying and driver- student interaction as well as documented events of parents confronting students on school buses, make onboard cameras al- most an essential piece of equipment. “We feel [onboard cameras] have been


well worth the investment for a couple reasons,” says Kathy Kiehl, transportation services coordinator for Akron (Ohio) Public Schools. “Tey remove all doubts about student behavior. Parents can’t dis- pute what their child has done. Tere is a stronger base for school administrators in their choice of discipline. In dealing with


bus drivers, unfortunately, cameras docu- ment when bus drivers are wrong. But it gives us training opportunities because our goal is to retrain and improve our drivers where we can.” Kiehl echoes the comments of many


❝


dence for a court of law, such as prosecution of a motorist who illegally passes the school bus and is caught on an external camera. It could mean a recorded, on-board bullying incident. “Preserving the chain of custody for video


evidence is equally [as] important as preserv- ing the chain of custody for any other type of evidence,” says Jordan Shishmanov, product manager at Seon Design, Inc. An informal survey of several school bus


video providers revealed several common, initial


recommendations to protect this


chain of custody: • Develop specific procedures with the district IT depart-


ment and video camera vendor for determining personnel who will download and archive the video • Ensure all video cameras on and around the school bus are


tamper- and vandal-proof and the hard drive or DVR is locked • Develop procedures for regular maintenance of the cam-


era equipment on the school bus • Password protect all video within the system and store


video in a proprietary format to view the encrypted video file • Develop specific procedures for sharing encrypted video


with district staff on a secure network drive • Only the original, encrypted video file should be shared with law enforcement


were a lot of “he said, she said” situations. Parents and bus drivers were complaining and the threats of litigation were plentiful. “Te threats haven’t gone away, but


they are reduced,” Kiehl says. “Our driv- ers feel supported and I believe our legal


When the bus driver testifies in court, that testimony is supported by the camera. ❞


— Dan Schultz, Southeast Polk (Iowa) Community School District


of her counterparts when she says that before onboard cameras were used there


advisors are more comfortable because we have better documentation. Te video


Before purchasing school bus surveillance systems for either


inside or outside the vehicle, operators must ask a vital ques- tion: how do we ensure chain of custody? Te phrase indicates the protection of any potential evi-


“One of the most important aspects before the chain of com-


mand is the fact you need a proprietary-based video system. By that, I mean you can’t have a video system that uses a simple edit- able file format,” comments Chris Shigley, sales manager at REI. “Te video has to be secure in the first place. Otherwise, no matter what chain of command you have in place, any of these court systems, police departments, are not going to accept it unless it’s the absolute original.” In the May edition of the newsletter “Le-


gal Routes,” contributor and retired director of transportation for Denver Public Schools Pauline Gervais writes that


transportation


departments should work closely with the dis- trict’s human resources, legal and safety and security personnel to determine who is allowed to view video and under what circumstances.


“It is imperative that only properly trained, authorized per-


sonnel have access to retrieving and monitoring video footage,” says Mark Moore, vice president of sales at AngelTrax. “We strongly recommend to customers that they do not distribute keys to their drivers and keep the amount of authorized users restricted to the fewest number of staff members possible.” Gervais also advises that school districts should notify par-


ents, staff and the community if video cameras are installed and may be utilized on any school grounds, including school buses. Tis entails verbiage in the school board policy, transportation procedures, school bus rules, department handbook, and on district or department Web sites. ■


Do you have policies on chain of custody? Participate in a related survey at www.stnonline.com/go/820.


www.stnonline.com 45


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