Utah Schools Eye AI Technology to Detect Firearms Early

As schools across the U.S. grapple with school safety concerns relating to school shootings, the Utah State Board of Education is encouraging its school districts to adopt and install an AI program that can detect when a person is brandishing a firearm.

The board approved a $3 million contract in December with the emergency response technology company AEGIX Global to install the AI technology developed by the video analytics platform ZeroEyes at schools across the state, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. The move follows the passage of a state bill in the spring that devotes $75 million to school safety efforts.

“Cameras that have this [firearm detection] software added to them can detect brandished weapons. Anything that is not concealed and generally visible to the human eye, the camera can pick up on it,” Utah State Board of Education School Safety Specialist Rhett Larsen told Government Technology. “If someone were to have a firearm in the school in front of the cameras that have this software, it’ll pick up on it once it’s brandished … . Within seconds, they’ll determine if it is a firearm and contact dispatch in that local area.”

Schools that wish to use the technology will be selected through a competitive application process and will receive assistance with installation and tech training from AEGIX, Larsen explained. Among other requirements, schools must already have camera systems in place to make use of the technology. The application process is expected to open in February.

“They’ll start working with the vendor and have until the end of June 2025 to utilize this software and this grant. After that time, it expires, and if it’s something they wish to continue, those schools would work with their local policymakers and local school boards to determine how they would want to keep it moving forward,” Larsen said. “It’s an option for local education agencies if they want to give this a try to apply for it and see how it works for them.”

The decision in Utah comes after the two tech companies announced a partnership last year to integrate the ZeroEyes’ software into the AEGIX AIM (active incident management) platform, which allows individuals in organizations like schools to notify others of a crisis and whether they are “safe” or “unsafe” via a desktop, laptop or smartphone. It also comes as schools in Hernando County, Fla., adopted and expanded its use of the ZeroEyes software last year, according to a recent report from Security Magazine.

Kieran Carroll, chief strategy officer of ZeroEyes, said the technology is designed to identify brandished guns and send images to ZeroEyes’ Operation Centers (ZOCs) staffed by military and law enforcement veterans for human verification. He added that once they verify that a gun has been identified, they dispatch alerts, including information such as visual description, gun type and last known location of the shooter, to notify staff and law enforcement of the threat as quickly as possible.

Carroll said ZeroEyes’ other school customers include Rancocas Valley Regional High School in New Jersey; Center Grove Community Schools in Indiana; Leon County Schools in Florida; Adrian Public Schools and Oakland Community Schools in Michigan; Appoquinimink School District in Pennsylvania; and Berkshire Local School District in Ohio. ZeroEyes’ technology has also been deployed in the Michigan state Capitol, as well as Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs facilities, he noted.

Noting privacy concerns about school safety technologies, Carroll said that ZeroEyes only focuses on detecting guns and does not use facial recognition technology, unlike some other controversial school safety technologies. He said the technology “also does not store personal data.”

“Competitors that utilize facial and behavioral recognition are a major privacy concern for end users — especially educational institutions filled with minors,” he said. “ZeroEyes mitigates this issue by focusing solely on detecting guns, with no ability to identify faces.”