Chicago Public Schools to add more cameras, security personnel

Chicago Public Schools to add more cameras, security personnel Improved, simplified emergency procedures are set By Peter Mueller | Chicago Tribune reporter 10:59 PM CDT, August 18, 2008 When Chicago Public Schools open next month, some of the schools identified as troubled spots will see improved emergency procedures and more surveillance cameras and security personnel, school officials said Monday. The new measures come after 26 students were killed during the last school year—mostly by gunfire—and 10 more were killed during a summer of violence, according to Chicago Public Schools. Getting rid of firearms from schools is a top priority said Andres Durbak, director of the city schools' Office of Safety and Security. "At schools we can deal with fights," Durbak said. "But we cannot have fights including weapons." Neighborhood violence, particularly gang violence, also impacts school security, said Durbak, who oversees a budget of more than $50 million for the security of 409,000 students at 600 schools. "Severe gang violence in the area affects our schools," he said. "When something happens in the evening, it comes and visits us in the morning." Durbak stressed, however