Recent scares, including the vandalism of a student’s car and of school property, have caused members of the school community to bring up the question of whether the school has enough security cameras. Though some security cameras do exist in the front of the school, their effectiveness is questionable.

However, the truth is that because vandalism is so rare at the school, it hardly makes sense to spend money on systems that might be used once or twice a year at most. The amount of valuable footage captured by the cameras would not make up for the cost of the cameras themselves.

According to website for service professionals, the cost of a high quality camera averages $950, while the cheapest is around $500; to update its security cameras, the school would need to purchase multiple cameras and also pay for installation and maintenance, not to mention the cost of any recording system that keeps data for any period of time and staff to replay the footage.

Also, because the school has so many entrances, each one would need a camera in order to maintain full surveillance. Having cameras in the front parking lot, for the sole purpose of watching the cars, is not enough, as vandalism is not limited to that part of the campus.

Furthermore, there is always the question of whether or not the cameras constitute an invasion of students’ privacy. Who would be able to view this footage? What if it got into the wrong hands?

Even if the cameras are able to catch a vandal, it would be hard to identify the offender if they have disguised themselves properly or are not in the viewing angle of the camera.

All in all, security cameras are a waste of money, energy and time.