kupchurch@heraldsun.com; 419-6612
ROXBORO -- Person High School will get about 12 more surveillance cameras as a result of grants announced last week by U.S. Sen. Kay R. Hagan, D-N.C.
Person County will receive more than $8,600 from the COPS Secure our Schools Program, which provides grants to buy school safety equipment and create and improve school safety programs.
Sheriff Dewey Jones said the schools and the Person County Sheriff's Office applied for money to add to the school's existing camera system, which he said has helped cut crime at the 1,800-student school. He expects the new cameras will cut crime even more.
''We hope to secure more areas in the high school,'' Jones said. ''The cameras act as a deterrent and also in case anything does happen, you can go back and see what was going on.''
Jones said the cameras are in the cafeteria and hallways. He said the schools monitor the videos more than the sheriff's office, which has deputies assigned to the school.
"But if something does happen, we do review it too,'' he said. "We're trying to work with the school system to keep our kids safe.''
Hagan also announced that North Carolina will receive more than $475,000 in Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants to track down and prosecute child sexual predators.
"These funds are critical to keeping North Carolina's children safe," Hagan said. "By improving security at our schools and protecting children from sexual predators, these COPS grants will help local law enforcement strengthen our communities."
Launched in 2008, the COPS program provides grants to help locate, arrest and prosecute child sexual predators and exploiters, and enforce state sex offender registration laws.
