on. Right now, the main trigger is the door opening.” Shigley said customers who already
have an onboard video surveillance system can install a $20 cable and connect it to a sensor on the door itself that will activate the system and record what occurs onboard. “It’s a fairly inexpensive upgrade for
someone who already has REI mobile surveillance on their vehicle because all they’re adding is a simple wire harness,” he explained. “We’re starting to see more of them on RFPs.”
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Doug Dyment, president and CEO of Gatekeeper Systems Inc., has been in the video security business since 1992, when most systems consisted of one video camera and a VCR. “Now we’re evolving to eight, 12 and 16 cameras for one mobile system. I’ve asked clients, ‘Why don’t you start looking at your school bus as a vehicle carrying a sensor system that protects
children’s safety while monitoring suspicious behavior around the bus?’” said Dyment. “We’ve evolved video to a whole new level by getting much better resolution and by using more cameras to really put eyes on the back of administrators’ heads.” Gatekeeper works with some of the
largest school districts in the nation, he said, with 3,300 school and bus con- tractor customers overall. Currently, the company is helping the Anchor- age (Alaska) School District address the problem of unauthorized people entering its bus yards. Te district has 150 buses of its own and contracts another 180. “Tey (officials) want the system to
turn on when the doors open. Tey’ve had bus vandalism and thefts in the past and needed a feature that enabled the system to record when buses were broken into,” Dyment continued. Yet, despite the risks, he pointed out that the majority of school districts nationwide still do not have advanced
video surveillance system in their lots. Aaron Hofkamp, security systems specialist at Denver Public Schools, said the solution Video Insight utilizes a variety of tools to provide security at metro Denver and North- east bus terminals. “We’re working on taking our ‘as-
builts’ (drawings and floor plans) and placing cameras in certain areas,” he explained. “We’ll be able to put that on a Web page, so whoever has access to the cameras — such as the transpor- tation director — can click on the map and a live view will come up from that camera. Just move the mouse and find the camera you want … find your buses and follow them and see what they’re doing.” Hofkamp added that DPS is also
are using iPads and iPhones to zoom in and out on camera images and to view recorded video. “It’s a really cool program. I’m
trying to make it as easy as possible for everyone to use,” he said. l
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www.americanbusproducts.com 36 School Transportation News January 2013
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