FITCHBURG, Mass. -- A new high-tech hall monitor is coming to a local school next year.
The first-of-its kind surveillance system will be watching the halls at Fitchburg High School, and administrators believe other schools will no doubt watch to see how it works.
The surveillance system directly connects the school to the local police department in hopes of keeping everyone safe.
Fitchburg High School is one of three schools in the country serving as a pilot school to try out the new surveilance program.
The system allows police to monitor activity going on inside the school with both audio and video.
"They've developed a software by which police can access our cameras from the curb, which gives them an advantage to see what's happening in our building," Alan Twomley, media specialist Fitchburg High.
The site is secure, so no one can get access to the program because it runs on a closed loop and is encrypted.
Police say it is a valuable tool to help them do their job more effectively.
"It's a set of eyes in the school so once the first responding officer gets there he can make a judgment call and actually try to pick where the location is where we should send our officers in there," said Chief Robert Demoura, of the Fitchburg Police Department.
Cameras record activity in and around the school, then police can view it on the laptop in their cruiser, giving them an advantage to see firsthand what is happening.
"Before they enter the building they can look at our cameras see what's going on. If there's a perpetrator in the building, they can try to identify where it's happening and what's going on and make their entrance into the building quicker and safer for staff and students," Twomley said.
The system can only be viewed in one police vehicle at this time, but the hope is to have it made available in every car and in more schools in Massachusetts and around the country.
(Copyright (c) 2009 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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