Security Partnership Made at Morristown-Beard

The Morristown-Beard School donated two mobile computers to the Morris Township Police Department this week. 

The computers will allow the police to access security cameas that are on the school's campus at anytime and see what the cameras are viewing in realtime. 

"If something happens — it could be anything from a bomb threat to an intruder to a fire — that gives us a real edge in terms of responding quickly and assessing the situation," said Chief of Police John McGuinness. "I hope it also gives parents some peace of mind that Morristown-Beard is doing its utmost for campus security."

The school and the police department are planning a special drill this spring to test the new system.

Capts. Richard Ferrone and Robert Duffy each have a computer that they can bring to the school during an emergency to monitor events as they happen. Ferrone, Ptl. Steven Crump, and Hal Freeden, the school's director of security, came up with the idea last October during one of the school's football games. 

"We agreed that we'd love to gain access to the camera system at the school and Crump ran with the idea," Ferrone said.

McGuinness is planning to meeting with representatives from the 14 schools in Morris. He will encourage them to partner with police and allow them to access their surveillance systems. He said the cost of implementing a similar partnership at each school should be minimal since the Beard school already donated the computers to allow the access.