Each day we send our children to school and hope they will be safe and secure. It is expected that our children will be watched over and provided with everything they need to become educated and advance to the next level of higher learning. We never expect that study could be interrupted due to some aspect of GUN violence.
Guns have become one of the most haunting experiences in today’s society and now an unwanted presence in our schools. Students need and deserves to feel safe in the classroom and our traditional approaches for safety are falling short.
“Students need and deserve to feel safe in the classroom, and traditional approaches to safety fall short of delivering the advanced warning required to prevent serious and often fatal consequences to advancing threats” as quoted by a senior executive at an Artifical Intelligence technology company.
How can AI improve school security?
Security Access
Most schools require all staff members to wear some form of Identification recognizing them as authorized individuals with access to campus buildings. In some cases all cars with campus access must be registered and approved for access to campus facilities. If it appears that someone is unauthorized, some type of alert should be sent out to safety personnel to include police departments, and other emergency first responders.
Schools are not just all about the students. There are many who contribute to a school’s success, to include teachers, students, parents and school administrators. Proper identification is critical to having access in some way, but recent occurrences is that school violence normally occurs during school hours. What’s needed is to adopt a policy that anyone entering a school building must be registered for themselves and personal automobiles. This maybe a rigid approach but still small steps can pay dividends.
Alerts and The Value of Time
The key to heading off and mitigating act of gun violence requires time, a key factor in allowing those present to get to safety and for the emergency personnel to arrive. There is much research involving the use of cameras. Some cameras have the ability to employ artificial intelligence to recognize the presence of a weapon, in this case a gun, which has proven to be the most potent and imposing harm.
Using AI as an asset, unusal persons, objects or activity are brought to the security operators’ view – this empowers the human staff to be active participants without the burden of constantly viewing tedious, unexceptional activity. It is important to have an understanding of what AI is and how it works. This technology enables a machine, such as a video surveillance system, to quickly perform tasks that traditionally require human intelligence to execute.
Campus Visualization – Video Surveilance
Video surveillance on school campuses has increased from 19 percent in 2000 to 81% recently. There are cameras which has sophisticated Artificial intelligence software program that is able to scan exposed objects and determine if the object is metal and if its a gun. Studies have showned that up to 80% of active shooters have weapons visible as much as 30 minutes before shooting – critical under-utilized time that safety officials could leverage to prevent an attack. This is a giant step in stopping gun violence in schools and elsewhere. This software is powerful and in terms can send alerts immediately to law enforcement personnel when this occurs on a school campus.
The software can be configured so schools can choose the alerts they want to receive. For example, schools could get an alert if an unregistered vehicle licensed plates are recognized and an individual from that vehicle emerges. This type of campus security would require placement of fast spanning cameras in all parts of buildings and parking areas.
Recognition – Knowing the Surroundings
Facial recognition has numerous potential applications in a school environment, such as identifying a stranger who has never been inside the school before, or a stranger who has been lingering around the campus. One AI software can identify weapons, individuals and their movement then alert law enforcement when a threat is detected. The software can leverage the existing school CTV infrastructure to proactively detect things unusual. There could be an open door, unauthorized access, invalid license plates, vehicle identification, suspicious behavior, or fire, etc.
Having this capability at a school highly increases the level of security. The use of AI software increases the level of real-time observations and can send alerts to many forms of communication to include internet, email, social media, email and text to mobile phones. Having this ability, this software could also commit a lock down if authorized. Another AI software also has the ability to send an alert if a briefcase is detected as having a weapon on campus.
Secure Path to Safety With Robots
Robots are becoming a capable technology in heightening school security. This configured object can patrol school campuses both during school and after hours. Although costly, the Robot (mounted with 7 cameras) can provide another surveillance alternative to aid in school campus safety. Once it sees danger or is faced with an active shooter, it can confront the individual with flashing lights or use a pointed laser to disrupt the shooter long enough for law enforcement arrive. A few questions remain in terms of who owns data the Robot collects. This will likely be the school administration.
Robots are especially useful in providing supplemental surveillance and can roam 24/7 and never need breaks unlike humans. Robots may particularly be deployed at all school entrances. In Japan some schools are using robots as remote access (stand in) to accommodate students who are worried about school violence and prefer not to physically attend.
Conclusion
The increase use of AI programmed cameras on campus is powerful approach but are of no use if not monitored, unless the particular AI is used to automatically assess and sned alerts based on its configuration. We recognize the importance of privacy. It is a give or take on whether we accept this compromise. It is a choice that leaders and parents must conclude that students have the right for peaceful study environment but most of all, saving lives must be the priority.