essary type of information. But such an expense is unrealistic for school districts in a normal budget year much less com- ing out of the Great Recession. Rob Scott, president of school bus surveillance man- ufacturer 247Security, says the average, more affordable camera for the school bus market shoots at 480 resolution at about 30 frames per second. While that’s good enough to catch the driver’s license plate
at speeds up to 60 or 70 mph, capturing a face behind the windshield depends on the camera range and the angle it’s shoot- ing. Tis, he adds, can mean that a camera imbedded in the stop arm won’t necessar- ily get you the shot you need. “It all comes down to what you are try-
ing to do,” Scott says. “Capturing a license plate and a person in a car can very well require two different cameras.”
If it’s just the license plate you’re af-
ter, stop arm cameras remain an option. Tere are also externally-mounted cam- eras that can be moved around the bus to create different angles with a variety of lens sizes that can allow school bus operators to achieve the viewpoint they and law enforcement need to get inside the offender’s vehicle. But as Tsai points out, the picture can quickly become blurred by more obstacles
that some
municipalities have even stumbled over when it comes to much more expensive intersection cameras trained on drivers who run red lights. “Technology is just part of the prob-
lem,” he says. “You also need a rigorous process for handling evidence. You must store it, document it and explain how the system works if it goes to court.” School districts must also work with law
enforcement officials so they understand what the tape shows and what they need to prove to secure a conviction. Tis, Tsai adds, can introduce the additional burden on school districts to properly manage the tapes, often with an employee well versed in the technology and especially working in conjunction with the technol- ogy provider. And then, the tape might need to remain secured and tamper-proof to meet local evidentiary rules, especially in this “YouTube generation,” as Guy Jukes of BUS-WATCH by REI pointed out. “Tat hard drive is your evidence of
anything that happens. We always tell our customers, ‘You guys really have to pro- tect your chain of custody,’” added Jukes, the vice president of marketing at Radio Engineering Inc. “If there’s something bad enough, God forbid, you need to pull that hard drive and put it under lock and key. Treat it like you would any other evidence you have to take to court.” Tis also entails that school districts
should go the route of using encrypted, proprietary software that doesn’t allow any old Tom, Dick or Harry to gain ac- cess via wireless Internet connection or a thumb drive. “Te administrative and legal logistics
are really the hard part,” says Scott at 247. “Tis is something for school districts to keep in mind.” ■
46 School Transportation News Magazine August 2010
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