Georgia School District Implements Video Surveillance Solution

“When parents send their children to school, they expect and demand that they will be safe, so it’s our duty to provide a secure environment. These cameras have exceeded our expectations”

– Jeff Davis, County Board of Education.

♦ Challenge

Each school day, 3,200 students attend Jeff Davis County schools in Hazelhurst, Georgia. The high school and middle school had video surveillance systems installed in an effort to provide security protection. Unfortunately, these systems were deployed using very different equipment from different vendors. The result was two separate video systems consisting of a mixture of hardware. Given the poor video quality and coverage issues at both schools, it became obvious that both systems needed to be replaced.

♦ Solution

Administrators evaluated three proposed IP-based solutions in a process that included a “shootout” between three manufacturers’ cameras to get a feel for how the cameras would perform. The district chose Hanwha cameras for the surveillance system upgrades. The image quality was ranked the highest of the contenders, and the robust, vandal-resistant construction of Hanwha’s cameras as compared to other vendors’ offerings clinched the decision. For the recording and video management systems, the district chose exacqVision servers and video management system (VMS) software. The combination of the Hanwha cameras with the exacqVision video recording solution gave the district the image quality and ease-of-use they were looking for and supported the access hierarchy they required.

To meet the coverage priorities within the budget for the project, Progressive Communications used three Hanwha camera models: SNV-6012 cameras for indoor use; SNV-6084R cameras used both indoors and outdoors; and SNO-7082R cameras used outdoors.

♦ Result

Thanks to the high-resolution imaging provided by the Hanwha cameras, the district has been able to resolve a much higher percentage of incidents than in the past. Additionally, overall student behavior has improved with the known presence of the cameras. Each school monitors its own cameras locally in accordance with the access hierarchy system design, and video from all sites can be accessed from the Superintendent’s or Director’s office as needed. If an incident needs to be escalated to law enforcement, the district can provide clear, usable footage right away. All these functions are supported by the exacqVision VMS software and network video recorders.

“When parents send their children to school, they expect and demand that they will be safe, so it’s our duty to provide a secure environment. That means using the best of the best in terms of technology, and the Hanwha cameras certainly fit that bill,” said Nathan Miller, Network Engineer for the Jeff Davis County Board of Education. “These cameras have exceeded our expectations, so parents can be confident that their children are safe at school.”