SISD security command center among the most advanced in the county

It’s an effort to keep students safe.

In recent years, the Socorro Independent School District has developed one of the largest and most advanced security command centers in El Paso.

Before 2014 SISD had a security center that held three television monitors overlooking a few cameras.

Since then, it’s grown into a massive security stronghold.

From the outside the building off of Loop 375 might not look like much but inside it’s a command center dedicated to security.

“We have cameras basically in all of our facilities,” said Jose Castorena, SISD chief of police.

Castorena told ABC-7 the command center oversees 60 cameras in every high school — middle school and about 20 in every elementary school.

“In reality, it gives us over 2,000 views through the whole district,” Castorena said.

More than 32 television monitors track the movements of students and staff and it never stops.

“This center is manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year long,” Castorena said.

On Thursday there was a trash can fire in the restroom and the response was immediate.

Students were evacuated and a dispatcher guided firemen to the precise location.

“It’s almost a lot faster than someone picking up the phone and dialing in for the service,” Castorena said.

Coupled with 43 campus officers and 54 security guards, Castorena said the system has prevented everything from trespassing, theft and more.

“Last week we had an incident where we had some tagging that was about to start in one of our schools and we were able to take care of it because of the cameras,” Castorena said.

The district also has a mobile command center.

“It has external cameras. We can access these cameras, we also have telephone capabilities through internet,” Castorena said.

With an all too common occurrence of school shootings Castorena said staff and dispatchers have been trained to quickly relay information.

“We’re able to see who’s out and about in the hallways if there’s someone we need to retrieve,” Castorena said.

Eastlake High School senior, Manuel Rodriguez, said it’s a reassurance for students.

“They can come to school feeling safe because SISD is doing the job they are supposed to be doing and they are going above and beyond the expectations,” Rodriguez said.

The price tag for the command center came out to $1 million.

Castorena said they are working to add more cameras in elementary schools in the future.