Hernando County to use A.I. to detect school shooting threats

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - The Hernando County School District plans to become the latest in the country to use artificial intelligence, or AI, technology to detect school shooting threats on campuses.

Last week, board members voted to approve a one-year contract that’s not to exceed $200,000 with software company ZeroEyes. The company, founded by a former Navy Seal, says its system can alert first responders before a gunman is even able to fire their weapon.

The software works with a school’s existing security cameras to identify brandished, or exposed, firearms. While it can’t spot concealed weapons, ZeroEyes founder Rob Huberty says if a gun is spotted, the system can alert law enforcement, school security, and campus staff within seconds.

Unlike its name, humans actually monitor ZeroEyes. 

"If you walk in front of a camera with a gun exposed we’ll detect it and we’ll send out alerts," Huberty explained at a 2021 demonstration for the Seminole Country School District. "We use artificial intelligence and we use basically computers to process graphics cards in order to give first responders info before shots are fired."

READ: Nashville school shooter identified as 28-year-old woman

ZeroEyes is not alone in the AI threat detection market. Other popular systems, like Evolv, have been adopted across the country in hundreds of schools, businesses, event and sports venues, theme parks, and by local governments. 

The artificial intelligence system claims to be able to detect a gun as soon as it is exposed. 

So far, the technology has delivered mixed success. 

The price tag of the contracts are often steep and the systems are far from perfect, but contrary to its name, ZeroEyes says it has actual humans monitoring around the clock to confirm detected threats. 

READ: ‘It angers me’: Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd talks security after Nashville school shooting

The system uses already existing security cameras to help detect firearms. 

"The algorithm makes the determination. If it believes that it is a gun, then we have a human in our operation center say that is in fact a gun to verify it. Then they hit a button that’s dispatched and then you received it," said Huberty. "That whole entire time is about three to five seconds."

ZeroEyes says its staff are also able to relay crucial information about what a shooter is wearing, what they’re armed with, and their location in real-time.