Wilmington Considers Surveillance Cameras For School Buildings

WILMINGTON, MA -- The Wilmington School Committee is having preliminary discussions about installing security cameras in the district's buildings. At the committee's August 30 meeting, School Committee Chair Steve Bjork said the body had been contacted by a parent who had witnessed an incident at Shawsheen Elementary School that may have been prevented if cameras were installed at the building.

"She felt that security cameras might have deterred this particular incident. It wasn’t vandalism, it was a young person doing something that they probably shouldn’t have been doing," Bjork said without elaborating on the specifics of the incident.

Any decision to install cameras would require the committee to work with the town, which maintains the school buildings, as well as the police and fire department, said Vice Chair Julie Broussard. A policy adopted in 2013 does permit the installation of cameras on school property.

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"I think in today’s world, the more cameras the better with different things going on," said committee member Tom Talbot. "I know everybody’s worried about big brother, but I think for the safety of our kids...it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to have these cameras there."

Interim Superintendent Paul Ruggiero said he had already had preliminary discussions with Wilmington's town manager. Among the issues that would need to be addressed are cost, wiring and infrastructure to install the cameras.

"I think it’s a great idea if it allows another layer" of security, said committee member M.J. Byrnes. "But I also want to ensure that it’s not a false sense of security, that for whatever limitations a camera has it’s not going to protect somebody from making wrong choices because I think there’s a layer of responsibility and everyone needs to own their choices."

Photo by Hustvedt via Wikimedia Commons.