Grant allows IUPUI institute to study and improve school surveillance systems

By Lyn Mettler

An IUPUI researcher is not just imagining it; he’s making it a reality.

With a $400,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice, Herb Blitzer, executive director at IUPUI’s Institute for Forensic Imaging (IFI), and his staff are evaluating school security systems across the country, studying the latest technology in surv eillance and developing new tools to keep school children safe.

“School districts are clamoring to do something different,” said Blitzer. “Our purpose is to develop tools to help them.”

Blitzer and his staff are testing a wide range of systems from those commonly used by schools to more sophisticated systems. These systems’ capabilities include motion-tracking cameras, higher image quality, a search feature that can retrieve specific ima ges and more.

In collaboration with the IU School of Informatics at IUPUI, they are currently developing tools that will further improve these systems. They are working to create images that will enable viewers to see more details, software that allows cameras to detec t motion associated with bullying, and systems that would alert school officials to unusual sounds like gunshots or glass shattering.

IUPUI and the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology established IFI in 1995 to help improve the effectiveness of the investigation of crimes and the just trial of suspects through research and development and training programs for law enforcement of ficials.