School bus cameras keep Richland kids safe
RICHLAND -- Action News discovered the Richland School District is amping up its use of school bus cameras.
All is not smooth on the way to school. Bus driver Curt Wagner has dealt with his share of troublemakers over the years, but a high tech web of "eyes and ears" now has his back.
"All I have to do is point to the camera and say, 'Hey, you guys are being videotaped, so you need to watch your P's and Q's'"
A little security goes a long way when you're in charge of a bus load of kids. Wagner's bus is one of 70 that now have security cameras in the Richland School District. As he will tell you, they've gone a long way at keeping students safe, while also keeping them in line. They've stopped everything from fights and vandalism to bullying.
It doesn't end there. Recently the school district began switching school bus cameras from a VCR-type of system to a DVR-based system.
With the old VCR system, only about six hours worth of footage was kept before it would have to be erased, but with the new DVR system, every single hour up to four months can be recorded.
"There's times where (administrators) pulled the tape because of something I didn't see and then we took care of what happened," Wagner says.
There are times when drivers like Wagner wish they had an extra set of eyes in the back of their head, but in Richland, they have the next best thing.
All is not smooth on the way to school. Bus driver Curt Wagner has dealt with his share of troublemakers over the years, but a high tech web of "eyes and ears" now has his back.
"All I have to do is point to the camera and say, 'Hey, you guys are being videotaped, so you need to watch your P's and Q's'"
A little security goes a long way when you're in charge of a bus load of kids. Wagner's bus is one of 70 that now have security cameras in the Richland School District. As he will tell you, they've gone a long way at keeping students safe, while also keeping them in line. They've stopped everything from fights and vandalism to bullying.
It doesn't end there. Recently the school district began switching school bus cameras from a VCR-type of system to a DVR-based system.
With the old VCR system, only about six hours worth of footage was kept before it would have to be erased, but with the new DVR system, every single hour up to four months can be recorded.
"There's times where (administrators) pulled the tape because of something I didn't see and then we took care of what happened," Wagner says.
There are times when drivers like Wagner wish they had an extra set of eyes in the back of their head, but in Richland, they have the next best thing.
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