School adds security cameras to cut down on parking lot crime

The administration is hoping that crimes that occur in the front parking lot will be easier to solve after upgrading school’s security system over several months starting last spring.

The improved security system included upgrading the cameras in the main parking lot on Herriman Avenue, the roofs, and the back parking lot. The cameras now display video in color and HD and have zoom features to capture detailed images, according to assistant principal Brian Thompson.

Campus supervisor Mark Hernandez said the updated security cameras are especially useful for identifying suspects when the school’s security team is not present.

Last year, Hernandez said  thieves were sometimes stealing gas out of the vans and vandalizing cars.

“If someone says, ‘My car got broken into after tutorial,’” Hernandez said, “we can go back and look and then we can hopefully get some kind of identification and pass it on to the sheriff.”

Along with security cameras, an alarm system in many rooms on campus also provides security. If an intruder breaks into an alarmed room, the system signals the sheriff’s department.

Security staff like Hernandez are confident that break-ins, vandalism and other crimes on campus will see a steady decrease with the heightened security system.

Even as SHS has upgraded security cameras, the city of Saratoga is also contemplating the use of security cameras.

The recent spike of burglaries has led to Saratoga council member Rishi Kumar to introduce the idea of placing security cameras on some streets in the Golden Triangle neighborhood.

“Currently, there is no policy from the city council to put cameras in Saratoga, so I have brought up the fact that cameras would increase the safety of our neighborhood,” Kumar said. “It has only been a discussion that we have had.”