All district middle and high schools acquired a new camera system over the summer. According to the Department of Security and Safety, the new camera and security systems cost the county nine million dollars.

The systems include “digital closed-circuit television camera systems, visitor management systems, and access control systems in schools,” according to the DSS Capital Improvements Project description.

The new cameras are placed all around campus. Many are in the same hallways in order to get surveillance from different angles of the same area. The footage is stored on a computer that security guards can access when necessary. They are able to plug in a date and location and find footage recorded at that given time. Security can monitor the footage during the day if necessary.

Many members of the RHS community are encouraged by the upgrades in the security systems. Head of security coach Bert Camut said, “Now we have access to every hallway, every hotspot. Any trouble that’s seen, we can pick it up and zoom in a�� Because of what’s happening in the world today a�� we think it’s important.”

In the past years it was difficult to find stolen items using the old cameras, affectionately known as the “bubbles.” While the “bubbles” were effective enough to see generally who was involved in a fight, it was nearly impossible to look at an unclear face and figure out who had stolen student items.

Junior Sophia Romano tried to use the old cameras to find her phone after it was stolen last year. Even after watching the tapes many times, security could not identify a culprit. Romano said, “I think the cameras may have made a difference when I was looking for my phone a��. That way they probably would have caught the person who took it.”

Camut and Romano both think that the cameras will improve the safety at RHS. Camut also said that the new system makes him feel safer about the school and surrounding community. Romano believes that the new cameras may cut down on the number of stolen items.

Assistant Principal Galit Zolkower thinks the change in the systems will provide a great deal of help for the school. Zolkower said, “Being able to monitor places that are out of our vision will ensure that everyone and their property is safe.”