NORFOLK, Va. — When a parent drops a child off at school, the last thing they should be worried about is their safety. Sadly, the incidents of gun violence in and around schools remain a pressing concern.
Right now, some school districts use metal detectors or weapons detection systems. Clear backpacks for students have become a requirement in Newport News, and School Resource Officers, or SROs, are on campuses all over Hampton Roads. Is that enough?
Artificial intelligence has been added as an extra layer of security at a number of school divisions across the country. They’ve partnered with companies like Actuate, Omnilert, and ZeroEyes.
Rob Huberty, the Chief Operations Officer of ZeroEyes, says the company uses computer vision AI to detect guns.
"If there’s an existing camera, we can process that feed, and, if there’s a gun in an image, we can send out an alert. The entire idea is to be proactive rather than reactive, so we can give first responders information before shots are fired," said Huberty.
The technology searches frame by frame, continuously looking for a weapon. It works in real-time, all day, every day, auditing spaces within camera range. With the technology, authorities can be alerted in as fast as three to five seconds.
Dr. Chris Heilig is the Superintendent of Schools in Mount Holly, New Jersey. His district has been using ZeroEyes for five years.
"Our initial active shooter that we did without the technology, the law enforcement was able to get to the active shooter in about three minutes. With the use of ZeroEyes and another drill, they were able to get to the active shooter in 60 seconds," said Dr. Heilig.
If a weapon is holstered or hidden, the AI computer vision will not detect it. ZeroEyes argues that according to the K – 12 School Shooting Database, at least 70 percent of shootings are typically staged with guns visible and the shooter outside of the school building for a period of time before a shot is fired.
"Particularly in school shootings and mass shootings, when you have, maybe an emotionally deranged individual, whatever you want to call it, someone who would do these terrible things, they actually show their guns and they don’t hide it," said Huberty.
Every detection goes through a human monitoring center, and each threat is verified before an alert is triggered to notify first responders.
The technology only sees images of objects. No personal or identifiable information is recorded, preventing privacy invasions while providing sufficient evidence to the proper authorities.
Former Virginia Beach Police Chief Jim Cervera says he sees how using the company's technology to detect guns could be beneficial.
"It would be a great tool for policing on a local, county, state level as long as everything is done in accordance with the constitution, specifically the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution," said Chief Cervera.
That is the right to be secure against unreasonable searches without probable cause.
The AI cannot and does not work independently. The eyes of trained monitors must confirm any weapon sighting before the proper authorities are notified, but how do school districts pay for this technology?
Dr. Heilig's school division felt it was an important enough security tool to earmark the funds.
"You find a way to do that. That’s easier said than done, I know. School budgets across the country have different priorities and it’s really difficult. We decided to look at our school budget and prioritize what we need and fit that within our regular school budget," said Dr. Heilig.
The cost is largely dependent on the number of cameras in use. Pricing ranges anywhere between $20 and $50 monthly per stream with installation and monitoring included. The COO of ZeroEyes says his company works with schools to make the technology financially feasible, and shared, "we try to make this as cost-effective as possible. We’re going to devote ourselves to something that horrifies me, and I want to make the world a little bit better so this is how we’re going to do it."
Currently, there are no school divisions in Hampton Roads using the ZeroEyes AI gun detection software. News 3 did learn they have been in talks with at least one local school.
None of the AI firms consider their technology the only answer to keeping our kids safe in school, simply one of them.
