(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Officials with the Chicago Public Schools system have announced plans to upgrade security cameras at every school in the next three years.
“There have been investments over the years, but none as bold as now,” said Jadine Chou, CPS Chief of Safety and Security, who was among CPS officials at Eli Whitney Elementary School in the Little Village neighborhood.
Officials said CPS will spend $76 million to make school security camera systems state of the art.
CPS CEO Pedro Martinez explained how CPS is deciding which schools get new cameras first over the three-year phase-in period.
“We’re looking at enrollment,” he said. “We’re looking at current camera conditions, as well as the number of safety incidents that are taking place at the school as well as the number of criminal incidents that are taking place in the community near the school.”
This year, 58 elementary schools and five high schools will receive upgraded security camera systems. Next school year, 120 elementary schools and 15 high schools will receive them; and the following year, 122 elementary schools and 11 high schools will get upgrades.
CPS says the camera systems are not only visible to school security staff, but also to the CPS central office, OEMC (the city’s 9-1-1 Center) and the Chicago Police Department.
Martinez said CPS spends $100 million a year on salaries for security at schools. The camera upgrades will give them more eyes on potential trouble.
Cristina Sandoval, the parent of two children at Eli Whitney School, praised the plan and called it proactive.
Martinez would not speculate whether upgraded cameras might have been a deterrent to a December shooting that left two teenagers dead outside Juarez High School.
He said other ways security is being increased is with people. Extra counselors, social workers and mental health teams are being added, he said.
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