patricianhighschool

CCTV Policy document

CCTV has being installed in the Patrician High School. This is to be implemented in accordance with the school policy regarding this issue as decided and agreed by the Board of Management, Staff and Parents Association of the school:

Background:
Concerns have arisen over issues listed below. These issues are both from concern for personal safety of all persons on our premises and from financial costs associated with repair and replacement.

• Vandalism, Replacement Costs, Insurance claims, Absenteeism of students from class.
• Misuse of emergency exits, Interference with intruder alarms, Call outs, Fire extinguishers etc.
• Window breakage, Graffiti,
• Unauthorised access to student lockers, theft from student lockers, student use of staff toilets, unauthorised access to school by general public.
• Monitoring of staff car park area. protection issues- Bullying and injury to pupils.
• Fireworks on premises.

Status:
The system is proposed to be activated, tested and demonstrated following complete installation during mid- term break October 2010.

General Principles:
The Patrician High School, Carrickmacross has a statutory right for the protection of its property, equipment and other plant as well as providing a sense of security to its employees, pupils and invitees to its premises. Patrician High School owes a duty of care under the provisions of Health, Safety and Welfare legislation and utilises CCTV systems and its associated monitoring and recording equipment as an added mode of security and surveillance for the purpose of enhancing the quality of life of the Patrician High School community by integrating the best practices governing the public and private surveillance of its premises.



Objectives of the system:

• To protect the school buildings and their assets,
• To increase personal safety of staff, pupils and visitors and reduce the fear and incidence of crime,
• To support the Gardai in a bid to deter and detect crime,
• To assist in identifying, apprehending and prosecuting offenders,
• To protect members of the public and private property,
• To assist in managing the school,
• To assist in relation to matters other than security, namely, the promotion of and compliance with Health and Safety standards and taking appropriate disciplinary measures, where so required,
• The system will not be used to monitor staff conduct or performance, except where required to investigate the alleged commission of a crime.

Monitoring for security purposes will be conducted in a professional, ethical and legal manner and any diversion of the use of CCTV security technologies for other purposes is prohibited by this policy e.g. CCTV monitoring of political or religious activities, or employee and / or pupil evaluations would undermine the acceptability of the resources for use for critical safety and security objectives and is therefore prohibited by this policy.

Purpose:
The purpose of the installation of CCTV coverage in the Patrician High School is listed above and will operate in compliance with the Data Protection Acts 1998 -2003.

Information Gathered:
Location:

The Administrator’s office is where the system is installed and where it is controlled. The Administrator will check and confirm that the efficiency of the system regularly and in particular that the equipment is recording properly and that camera’s are functional. The recording equipment is located in a locked cabinet in the Administrator’s office. When the office is vacated the Cabinet will be locked.

Monitoring of information:

Monitoring of the CCTV footage will be the responsibility of the Principal and/or the Deputy Principal. Dissemination of said footage will be at the discretion of the Principal and/or the Deputy Principal. Individuals may be requested and authorised to assist in vetting information gathered from time to time.


Recording of information:

Information will be recorded continuously. The surrounds of the school including the car park, general assembly areas and service yard will be monitored by the external cameras. The lobby area, canteen, top and bottom corridors, stairwells will be monitored by the internal cameras. All classrooms are exempt from any CCTV coverage. Expectations of individual privacy will be maintained and operation of the system will be mindful that no such infringement is likely to take place. Should petitions, from staff or students regarding invasion of privacy or confidentiality due to location of a particular camera or associated equipment, be submitted to the school they should be given full consideration.

Duration of retention of information:

All recordings will be retained for 4 weeks and will be automatically recorded over thereafter. The exception may be where material is retained on DVD to identify issues for investigative purposes. This will be in accordance with the Data Protection Acts 1988 – 2003. Such DVD’s will be stored in the locked control cabinet.

Access to recorded information:

Information will be examined by the management of the school under instruction of the Board of Management. Relevant
external bodies will be allowed access to information only in compliance with the Data Protection Acts 1998 - 2003 where deemed appropriate by the Board.

Materials or knowledge secured by the school’s CCTV system will only be released to third parties for use in the investigation of a specific crime and with the written authority of the Garda Siochana. DVD’s containing personal data will not be released under the policy without the Data Subject’s consent

Notices indicating existence of CCTV:

In accordance with current legislation appropriate disclosure of the existence of CCTV cameras will take place throughout the school. Several notices will be posted indicating that cameras are operating in the Patrician High School.
This policy document has being brought to the attention of all relevant parties involved in the Patrician High School and is on our website with copies available from the school office upon request.