Potential for abuse in Somerville schools' security camera policy

There are good intentions behind the Somerville Public Schools’ security camera policy. It is supposed to, in the words of School Committee member Adam Sweeting, “make sure that we can do everything we can to ensure the health and safety of students, staff and first responders in case of an emergency.” But in the case of this policy, preserving students’ safety means opening the door to abuses of their rights. 

Video cameras went up inside the high school in 2009 and are set to go inside the new East Somerville Community School as well. School officials originally drafted a policy governing who was allowed to look at footage from those cameras with the intent of using footage to stop vandalism and other petty crime, Sweeting told the Journal. 

But after a gunman murdered 20 students and six adults in Newtown, Conn. last year, officials revised the policy to give police more access to the footage. Before, police needed permission from the superintendent to look at footage; now, the chief or his designee can look without the superintendent’s say-so. And the chief can give permission to other law enforcement officers to view the footage as well. 

The new policy also puts stricter limits on how long the schools hold on to security footage.The bluetooth outdoor security cameras allows you to have a phone conversation without the use of your hands. Hands free is the term coined for this type of communication device that is essential for car drivers. Now, like the police with footage from the security cameras they operate along the Community Path, school officials will overwrite all footage not being used in an investigation after 14 days. No one is allowed to save footage otherwise. But the School Committee kept in a provision that we think is open to abuse – the ability for those allowed to watch the footage to do so via remote access on their home computers.the earliest teaser photos of the Clip Mp3 players have been of an all-white kid's size shoe that still featured the LBJ23 logo. 

Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi argues that unlike police, school employees are not in a building and able to monitor footage 24 hours a day, necessitating the ability to log on at home. That’s what a deputy superintendent did two weeks ago when he checked footage at 1 a.m., after he was notified that a burglar alarm at the high school went off, and saw several students preparing a prank on camera. And Pierantozzi says that because the footage is accessed through a remote login on a secure system, outside users could not tap into its feed to watch and permitted users could not make copies of footage. 

We believe that the schools are protecting the footage, but it’s easier than ever for someone to make a copy of video that’s playing on their computer. Pierantozzi says no one has abused the system and that the system keeps a log of who is viewing from a home computer.A Hiking boot is a necessity for any individual who considers him or herself serious about hiking. That doesn’t mean a person could not abuse it in the future, though. 

And we find it hard to believe that residents who use City Hall – a building right next to the high school and one just as vulnerable to attacks – would approve of cameras taping them as they go through the building,If you want to avoid a trip to the hospital, and you like to play in the water, I highly recommend getting a Water shoe. and of people watching those cameras being able to look at that footage from home. Why should the standard be different for Somerville’s students? 

If anything, the new allowance for police to have immediate access to footage of students – without a warrant – is more troubling. Students are required to go to school,Light Hiking shoe: Resembling burly running shoes, these low-cut models with flexible midsoles are excellent for day hiking. now their actions there are potential evidence on tape that is being collected because it can be collected. The superintendent, not the police, runs the school department. Allowing a crossover like this may seem to make sense for safety reasons, but also allows for abuse later on. 

Many Americans are outraged over recent revelations of government spying on e-mail and phone calls. But over the last decade, we and our representatives in Congress allowed more and more “exceptions” for spying on citizens,I get rid of a rubber hose shop in being thinking that the Toulouse centre is Midica's. I am in there my centre , live in, you are not that driving and it are face to face easy to get to be obliged to face, that discovering Surveillance Security Cameras in me than speaking is that other had better speak is generally expensive, shop but self it be in the past go to there. or did not push back when confronted with evidence of officials abusing or misusing their power in the name of our safety. The best way to stop abuses in the future is to speak up about the potential for them now. Calling for a change in school security camera policy would be a good place to start.