Yorkville Police Department get eyes inside schools in event of emergency

Yorkville Police Department now has eyes inside Yorkville schools, which should make law enforcement one step quicker in responding to an emergency. Following an agreement with the school district, the Yorkville Police Department now has access to all school security cameras.

The agreement between the Yorkville Police Department and Yorkville School District 115 is designed to provide camera access during life-threatening situations needing an immediate response.

Heather DiVerde, the school district's executive director of facility operations, said the safety enhancement was made possible by implementing a Verkada Security System with new cloud-sharing technology. She said Yorkville was the first school district in the area to install such a security system after it purchased it two years ago.

"This is a part of our crisis plan, especially as it helps with our communication with the PD to be more efficient," DiVerde said. "Our parents are supportive of the security efforts we're doing in the buildings, we've always had cameras. We do not share this information with anybody and the PD only uses it for investigation. The intention is only to use it when we really need it."

Officers are granted access to live camera feeds, recorded videos and images, and student records.

The agreement was unanimously approved by the City Council on Nov. 12.

DiVerde said the schools' priority is ensuring police get the information they need during an emergency with the greatest immediacy. Before the agreement, police were required to receive permission from a school dean or the security supervisor before accessing any camera recordings. She said that wastes time during a crisis.

"This is going to help whenever they need to get information a lot quicker," DiVerde said. "It also allows them to get background information when they need it."

Yorkville Police Deputy Chief Garrett Carlyle said while the PD has had to respond to some recent safety incidents at the schools, the ability to monitor the schools' cameras was in the works long before the recent school threats.

"It's not something we would monitor every day, because we respect the privacy of the school and the students," Carlyle said. "It's designed should a major event occur, allowing us to get eyes on the school and be better informed to create a better response plan. The school district has done a wonderful job making sure their students are safe, and as they build their safety mechanisms, we now have the opportunity to access that for emergency situations."

Every single building within the school district has both interior and exterior cameras that can now be accessed by the police department. According to the police department, access to the camera system will be audited by the school district and limited to in-progress major events. It will not be releasing any information to the public on their access usage. It is also not currently aware of any other regional school districts who are using this surveillance sharing technology with their local law enforcement.

Carlyle said the department is respectful of the public's privacy concerns. He said gaining access to real-time information, including evaluating the severity and location of a threat, is crucial to responding to a crisis and protecting the lives of students and employees, and protecting school district property.

"It's a very defined set of circumstances that have to occur before our guys access the cameras," Carlyle said. "When we need it, it's great, but we want to make sure that we don't misuse it, because you can only do that once and then you've lost the public trust."

According to the agreement, except required by law, recorded footage, downloaded or preserved by the department, shall not be released, displayed, or disseminated to any third parties, or to any members of the department who do not have a law enforcement purpose for such access.