Defective Security Cameras in Atlanta Area Schools Go Unrepaired
At one school, 13 cameras were down for more than a year.
It has taken on average 61 days for the Atlanta Public School District to fix its broken security cameras.
ATLANTA — A local television station here found that it has taken on average 61 days for the Atlanta Public School District (APS) to fix its broken security cameras. At one school, 13 cameras were down for more than a year. Other school districts, such as the Clayton County School District, took as little as 10 days on average to make the appropriate repairs, reports 11alive.com.
According to the TV station’s survey of thousands of security camera repair logs from the Atlanta areas six largest school districts since 2013, the other districts’ average repair times fell somewhere between those two extremes,.
Ralph Valez, who is the new director of security for APS, says his district is addressing its maintenance issues. He says APS’ average response time for camera repairs has been reduced from 61 days to 21 days in 2016 and that 93 percent of the cameras are now working. The district also has plans to replace hundreds of old cameras with newer ones.
Additionally, Valez says that because his district has so many cameras installed, if one goes down, “chances are that you’re being captured on another.”
A 2016 video surveillance survey by SSI sister publication Campus Safety found that 47% of K-12 schools and school districts rated their maintenance issues as somewhat to extremely challenging.
Following are 11alive’s findings on the average number of days it took six school districts to repair their security cameras:
- Atlanta Public Schools (2013-2017): 61
- Clayton County School District (2013-2016): 10
- Cobb County School District (2013-2017): 22
- DeKalb County School District (2015-2017): 37
- Fulton County School District (2013-2016): 33
- Gwinnett County School District: No information provided
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