How Sarasota schools are planning to use AI to keep students safe

Sarasota shools using AI to detect guns

FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon reports on Sarasota schools using AI to detect possible threats to the county's school.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Sarasota County schools are using new artificial intelligence gun detection technology to increase security.

Hidden in the pocket of a jacket, you have to watch closely to notice a man has a gun.

New technology, using artificial intelligence from Omnilert, works to monitor surveillance cameras to stop a threat.

"Our AI is doing one thing and one thing alone. It’s looking for guns in a video feed," said David Fraser.

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Omnilert's artificial intelligence detects a man with a gun.

David Fraser is the CEO of Omnilert. He says Omnilert Gun Detect can spot a firearm, in some instances, faster than the human eye.

"It takes less than a second typically to detect a firearm, and once verified it can set off some responses that are hopefully capable of changing the outcome," said Fraser.

Once detected, local law enforcement and school officials are alerted.

"The system goes into a set of procedures including notifying the police and activating other safety systems, can set off alarms and do mass notification," said Fraser.

The Sarasota County School District tried the program out for a year at a local high school.

"In terms of safety and security, having eyes out and about at all times is really important," said Sarasota County School Schools Superintendent Terry Connor.

After seeing success, the Sarasota County School Board committed to fully funding the technology for all 4,800 cameras across the district.

"Using our safety and security protocols coupled with technology like this AI on our camera system helps us to respond very quickly, and that’s what it takes when you’ve got seconds when you have a crisis or event on your campus," said Connor.

Omnilert will be rolled out district-wide over the next two years. Connor said it’s an added layer of security to protect students, teachers, and staff.

"No one can guarantee. We are only one bad decision away from an incident and what we try to do is have very proactive steps to prevent that from happening," said Connor.