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Weapons-detecting software utilizing AI to make schools safer
In a mass shooting, seconds matter. Now, law enforcement is using artificial intelligence (AI) to save lives.
SANFORD, Fla. - In a mass shooting, seconds matter. Now, law enforcement is using artificial intelligence (AI) to save lives.
"There is never a scenario where there is an active campus with kids, teachers, faculty, and staff where a deadly threat becomes better with time," said Sheriff Dennis Lemma, Seminole County Sheriff's Office.
Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma believes the company ZeroEyes will help his deputies respond faster in the event of an emergency.
The company has programmed AI software to recognize guns. Participating schools connect the technology to existing school security cameras. The technology scans the camera feeds for guns. If the software detects a weapon, ZeroEyes staff verify it and alert local law enforcement and school officials.
"Should have an alert within 3–5 seconds," said Sam Alimo, Co-Founder of ZeroEyes, "Every time that gun is seen in front of the camera that's licensed for their software, they'll get a drop on a map."
Research has shown that 68% of mass shootings in K-12 settings happen outside buildings first - so early detection is a lifesaving key.
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"We can't quantify how many mass shootings didn't happen because of our software. That's a good problem to have. All we can do is point to examples of where we picked up guns where they should not have been, and they were removed," said Alimo.
ZeroEyes is deployed in 40 states across the country and at least three school districts in Florida. Seminole County Sheriff's Office was the first in the state to deploy a pilot program at Oviedo High School in 2021.
Seminole Public Schools is no stranger to threats on campus. In 2022, a student was shot by a classmate at Seminole High School.
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The sheriff's office says the school safety initiative is currently deployed at multiple locations within the district but declined to release the full list, citing safety.
"As a safety concern, you don't want to disclose how many or what schools," said Lemma, "But I'll tell you - in the very near future, we're going to have every single campus covered with this technology."
Sheriff Lemma says their draw is an additional layer of verification. ZeroEyes uses trained eyes to verify the weapons before local law enforcement or schools are alerted of a threat.
"One-hundred-and-fifty employees right now. Over 80% of them are military vets or law enforcement," said Alimo.
The sheriff's office declined to release the timeline for when the technology will be expanded to all schools.