By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Princeton Police will have live access to the hundreds of security cameras across the school district, in a move that a recent state law requires.
The arrangement will be spelled out in a memorandum of understanding between the police and the district, due to take effect at the end of January. Superintendent of Schools Stephen C. Cochrane said Tuesday that access to the cameras would be password protected and limited to only “specific” members of the department to have remote access to real time footage.
“Not any police officer would have the ability to do that,” he said.
“We are currently working on the specifics of the agreement, so I don’t want to comment on it until it is final and complete,” police Chief Nicholas K. Sutter said Wednesday by email.
Access would be limited to scenarios like a lockdown, an after-hours burglary alarm activation or other crisis determined by Cochrane or a school principal. The district will get an automatic notification, Cochrane said, and each side “will keep a log of access and compare that on a regular basis.”
“The idea is that if there’s an active shooter in the building, you don’t want your police going in blind,” Cochrane said. “If they can identify where the intruder is and where staff may be, that’s going to help them.”
State lawmakers approved requiring districts with at least one surveillance camera take that step saying police must have the ability to activate the cameras “and view live streaming video.” The three lawmakers representing Princeton — state Sen. Kip Bateman (R-16), Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R-16) and Andrew Zwicker (D-16) — supported the measure, as did state Assemblyman and Princeton municipal prosecutor Reed Gusciora, D-15.
Gov. Chris Christie signed the legislation into law earlier this summer. Districts had 180 days from the time the law took effect in July to reach agreements with their respective police agencies.
The actual recordings will be the district’s property that law enforcement would need to get a subpoena to obtain the footage, Cochrane said.
The school board has to approve the agreement between the district and the police department, he said.
