Maryland County Installs Bus Cameras

Students in Frederick County, MD who attend Frederick County Public Schools will be protected by the installation of security cameras that will watch loading and unloading of students as well as keep an eye on dangerous drivers who pass school buses illegally.

The cameras are part of a five-year deal between the county and Xerox through the company’s CrossSafe program. Xerox won the contract through competitive bidding and will provide the technology and maintain it for the duration of the contract.

With the technology, school bus drivers will not have to manually record information on violators while at the same time try to keep an eye on students. Instead, the cameras will capture the violations, with high quality video, including time stamp and GPS coordinates. The evidence is reviewed and then forwarded to law enforcement for a decision on whether to proceed with charges.

"Xerox understands our sense of urgency to address this very serious concern to student safety," said Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, in a prepared statement. "Violators will now face serious penalties and be held accountable for their disregard for the safety of children traveling on buses."

The county will see 40 of its buses equipped with the technology with installation set to be completed before the end of the year. The school system serves over 40,000 students.

"The first priority for our bus drivers is the safety of our children," said Mac McLean, acting director of transportation, Frederick County Public Schools. "We support Frederick County’s commitment, through this program, to the safety of our children."

Featured

  • blue AI cloud connected to circuit lines, a server stack, and a shield with a padlock icon

    Report: AI Security Controls Lag Behind Adoption of AI Cloud Services

    According to a recent report from cybersecurity firm Wiz, nearly nine out of 10 organizations are already using AI services in the cloud — but fewer than one in seven have implemented AI-specific security controls.

  • stacks of glowing digital documents with circuit patterns and data streams

    Mistral AI Intros Advanced AI-Powered OCR

    French AI startup Mistral AI has announced Mistral OCR, an advanced optical character recognition (OCR) API designed to convert printed and scanned documents into digital files with "unprecedented accuracy."

  • robot waving

    Copilot Updates Aim to Personalize AI

    Microsoft has introduced a range of updates to its Copilot platform, marking a new phase in its effort to deliver what it calls a "true AI companion" that adapts to individual users' needs, preferences and routines.

  • teenager interacts with a chatbot on a computer screen

    Character.AI Rolls Out New Parental Insights Feature Amid Safety Concerns

    Chatbot platform Character.AI has introduced a new Parental Insights feature aimed at giving parents a window into their children's activity on the platform. The feature allows users under 18 to share a weekly report of their chatbot interactions directly with a parent's e-mail address.