South Philly High School is included in a list of 15 area schools where an initial round of newly funded security cameras will be installed.
City Council leaders, along with Mayor Jim Kenney, Philly Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw and School District of Philadelphia officials, recently announced $1.8 million in new funding that will go toward putting at least 100 security cameras in place near schools that have been most impacted by gun violence.
“We need every child to be safe as they go to school, and come home later in the day,” said City Council President Darrell Clarke in a press release. “These cameras are a good start, and they’ll lend ‘eyes’ to law enforcement officials working very hard to keep our kids safe from harm. I want to commend Schools Security Chief Kevin Bethel and the Philadelphia Police Department for working closely together with us to craft this cameras program.”
Other schools taking part in the program are:
- Edison/Clemente School
- Mastbaum High School
- Bartram High School
- Fels High School
- Lincoln/Meehan/Propel
- Dobbins High School
- Ben Franklin High School
- Duckrey Elementary School
- High School of the Future
- Frankford High School
- Kensington CAPA
- Northeast/Wilson School
- Roxborough High School
- Harding Middle School
Additional schools and locations could be added after the program is implemented. According to available city data, as of June 9, 94 Philly residents under the age of 18 have been shot so far this year, an increase of 8% over the same time period in 2021.
“Addressing the rising gun violence in our communities will require us all to come together for our children,” said Kevin Bethel, the chief of school security for the School District of Philadelphia. “As we’ve said all along, schools are supposed to be safe places for students, and we all have a collective responsibility to do more to ensure that our students and staff are safe as they learn and work.”
