MCC hopes to be more secure with new camera system

An unexpected windfall will go a long way to help McHenry County College beef up its security.

The college will use nearly $50,000 in federal dollars provided through the office of U.S. Rep. Donald Manzullo to begin implementing the first phase of a security camera surveillance system.

The school's board of trustees officially signed off on the earmark a bit more than a week ago, hiring Secure Integrations to install the system.

As part of the plan, 21 cameras would monitor activity in the college's six parking lots and 12 entry and exit points. A server would also record and store the footage for at least a week.

Trustee Donna Kurtz says existing security personnel will monitor the footage.

"We are not going to be hiring any staff for this, it is strictly a capital investment," Kurtz said.

In April, exactly two months to the day a gunman shot and killed five students and himself at Northern Illinois University, Manzullo, a Republican from Egan, announced that had secured nearly $50,000 to tighten security for seven schools in his district, including NIU.

"I can't think of a need that's more important now than to enhance security," Manzullo said at the time.

MCC already has bought a new emergency notification system and held on-campus training sessions for the Crystal Lake and Lake in the Hills police departments to learn the school's layout.

The college also has set aside office space for the Crystal Lake Police Department, allowing a visible police presence on campus.