Ocala approves police access to school surveillance for emergencies

Ocala Police Chief Mike Balken. [File photo by Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]

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Posted July 2, 2025 | By Jamie Berube, [email protected]

The Ocala City Council on July 1 unanimously approved an agreement allowing the Ocala Police Department to access Marion County School Board in-school surveillance cameras during emergencies. The agreement aims to enhance school safety by enabling rapid law enforcement response while safeguarding student privacy.

The “Schools Surveillance Camera System Access Agreement” permits OPD to view real-time and recorded video feeds from school cameras in specific emergency.

Section 2.04.1(c) of the “Schools Surveillance Camera System Access Agreement” allows OPD to access real-time and certain recorded video feeds from MCSB’s cameras when either OPD or another law enforcement agency with jurisdiction or operating under a mutual aid agreement is notified of a life-threatening incident on or near school board grounds that requires a law enforcement response.

Ocala Police Chief Mike Balken said the agreement covers all public schools within the city of Ocala. He emphasized that the camera feeds will not be continuously monitored.

“The camera feed would only be accessed by OPD personnel assigned to our Real-Time Crime Center and only during exigent circumstances as outlined within the agreement,” he said.

Balken said these circumstances include the presence of an active shooter on school campus, fire emergencies and other life-threatening events.

“This partnership is not intended to serve as a crime prevention tool or to assist with criminal investigations but rather to aid law enforcement’s response to emergency calls for service within our public schools,” he added.

Dennis McFatten, executive director of Safety and Security for Marion County Public Schools, supports the agreement.

“OPD, as well as the sheriff’s office, both will have access to the cameras. It is definitely going to be, from a safety standpoint, in the event of any type of major disaster or emergency, that camera access that they have will allow them to respond appropriately and in a timely manner,” he said.

“They will be able to see what the threat is on the campus, whether that threat is an active assailant, a fire, that threat could be anything where first responders have to respond. They’ll be able to see the cameras and know the dangers that they’re going into prior to entering into a school or school board property,” McFatten added. “It’s the best way of providing a quick response and protecting and keeping law enforcement and everybody safe when they respond, so I support this.”

McFatten said access is limited to three consoles across the OPD’s communication center, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and county fire and rescue, with only authorized personnel able to view feeds, such as dispatchers and supervisors.

“It’s not like everybody who is employed with the city or the county has access to it. So, it’s only three monitors or consoles that these cameras will have access to, not an entire camera system all over the city and the county, just three,” he explained.

McFatten noted that access is triggered by emergency alerts through school safety technology providers such as Centegix or Raptor, used by school staff.

To prevent misuse of the camera access, McFatten emphasized oversight measures.

“The Safe School Department will do regular audits just to check this to make sure that nobody is using it for anything that’s inappropriate. We expect both Ocala Police Department staff, city staff, city employees, as well as county and sheriff’s office employees not to abuse the system, not to use the camera system to randomly check the cameras for any other reason, other than an emergency, or they shouldn’t be watching the camera for looking at their kids or anything like that,” he said.

McFatten acknowledged that there are potential risks for abuse.

“I think there’s always a risk of anything happening,” he said. “But I believe that we have conveyed our concerns, and we’ve conveyed our displeasure in them doing that, and if it happens, we will not be, the school system, the district, will not be happy.”

McFatten emphasized that only select personnel in secure communication centers have access, reducing the likelihood of abuse.

The agreement, effective through June 30, 2027, with options for three one-year renewals, outlines strict protocols to ensure compliance with privacy laws and to prevent misuse.

Key provisions include emergency access. OPD and the sheriff’s office may access real-time feeds, which are not considered “education records” under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act during emergencies. Recorded footage, potentially classified as education records, requires school board approval for access.

McFatten stressed this access is contingent upon emergency situations.

“The only time they would have access, or should be having access to the cameras, is during an emergency where there’s a fire, an active assailant on campus, where there’s a shooting or stabbing, some type of immediate threat to life and property at that moment,” he said.

McFatten said cameras should not be used to solve burglaries unless they’re authorized to do so. Non-emergency access requires school board authorization and possibly a subpoena or court order.

The agreement between OPD and the Marion County School Board states that footage is exempt from Florida’s public records . OPD must maintain confidentiality, sharing footage only with authorized personnel. Breaches trigger immediate school board notification and liability for costs and fines. Furthermore, the school board can audit access, requiring monthly OPD reports on user identities, access details and emergency justifications.

The school board retains ownership of all recordings, which cannot be removed without a subpoena or court order.

For more information, contact the Ocala Police Department at (352) 369-7000 or the Marion County School Board at (352) 671-7700.