Barrington High School - Security Lessons Learned

“I continue to be impressed by the quality of the products and the features that they offer. We had a small camera system prior to this system. It was not user-friendly and did not have the features that the new system does. What a difference!”
– Steve McWilliams, District Safety Coordinator and Assistant Principal, Barrington High School

Mission
When it came time for Barrington High School, about 35 miles northwest of Chicago, to update its security system, school administrators aimed not only to provide peace of mind for students, staff and faculty, but also for the ability to identify sources of vandalism and theft. They realized the security system could act as a deterrent, as well as provide critical evidence of incidents.

Solution
Barrington chose a Pelco video security solution with about 200 cameras positioned around the high school campus – inside and out – including several DX8100 DVRs, Spectra dome cameras, Spectra Mini domes, more than 100 Camclosures and a System CM9760 video matrix. Campus attendants watch the video feed on 60-inch plasma monitors and on laptop computers equipped with a remote client. The video matrix switch allows for the flexibility of viewing images on the Internet. The school records the cameras to its extensive DVR system.

Result
The large school building has more than 40 exits, and the camera system allows attendants to monitor each of its doors and observe most hallways, view entrances, parking lots and public meeting areas.