Schools turn to artificial intelligence to spot guns as companies press lawmakers for state funds

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas could soon offer up to $5 million in grants to schools to equip surveillance cameras with artificial intelligence systems that can detect people carrying guns. But the governor needs to approve the expenditures and schools must meet some very specific criteria.

The AI ​​software must be patented, “designed as qualified counterterrorism technology,” consistent with certain security industry standards, already in use in at least 30 states and capable of detecting “three broad classifications of firearms with at least 300 classifications.” subfolder” and “at least 2000 permutations”, among others.

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Only one company currently meets all of these criteria: the same organization that touted it to Kansas lawmakers crafting the state budget. That company, ZeroEyes, is a fast-growing company founded by military veterans after the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.

The legislation before Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly highlights two things. After several high-profile shootings, school security has become a multi-billion dollar industry. And in the state capital, some companies are successfully convincing policymakers to write their corporate solutions into state law.

ZeroEyes also appears to be the only company eligible for state firearm detection programs under laws enacted last year in Michigan and Utah, bills passed earlier this year in Florida and Iowa and proposed legislation in Colorado, Louisiana and Wisconsin.

On Friday, Missouri became the latest state to pass legislation geared toward ZeroEyes, offering $2.5 million in matching grants to schools to purchase firearms detection software designated as “qualified anti-terrorism technology.”

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“We don't pay legislators to write us in their bills,” said Sam Alaimo, ZeroEyes co-founder and chief revenue officer. But “if they're doing that, it means they're doing their homework, making sure they're getting the technology vetted.”

ZeroEyes uses artificial intelligence with surveillance cameras to identify visible weapons, then sends an alert to an operations center staffed around the clock by former law enforcement officers and military veterans. If it is verified as a legitimate threat by ZeroEyes staff, an alert is sent to school officials and local authorities.

The goal, Alaimo said, is “to get that gun before you pull the trigger, or before that gun gets to the door.”

Few question the technology. But some question the legislative tactics.

Jason Stoddard, director of school safety and security at Charles School, said the very specific Kansas bill — especially the requirement that a company have its product in at least 30 states — is “probably the most egregious thing I've ever read” in legislation. District Public Schools in Maryland.

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Stoddard is president of the newly launched National Council of School Safety Executives, which was formed to set standards for school safety officials and push back against vendors who increasingly promote certain products to lawmakers.

When states allocate millions of dollars to specific products, he said, they often leave less money for other important school safety efforts, such as electronic door locks, break-resistant windows, communications systems and security staff.

“AI-based weapons detection is pretty cool,” Stoddard said. “But that may not be the priority that 95% of schools in the United States need right now.”

Technology can also be expensive, which is why some states create grant programs. In Florida, legislation to implement ZeroEyes technology in schools in just two counties cost a total of about $929,000.

ZeroEyes isn't the only company using AI surveillance systems to spot weapons. One competitor, Omnilert, switched from emergency alert systems to firearm detection several years ago, and also offers 24-hour monitoring centers to quickly review AI-detected weapons and pass alerts on to local officials.

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But Omnilert does not yet have a patent for its technology. It has not yet been designated by the US Department of Homeland Security as a counterterrorism technology under a 2002 federal law that provides liability protection to companies. It has been applied to both.

Although Omnilert has a presence in hundreds of schools, its products are not in 30 states, said Mark Franken, vice president of marketing at Omnilert. But he said that shouldn't deprive his company of government grants.

Franken contacted the Kansas governor's office in hopes of vetoing the specific standards, which he said “create a kind of anti-competitive environment.”

In Iowa, legislation requiring schools to install firearms detection software has been amended to give companies that provide the technology until July 1, 2025, to obtain federal designation as counterterrorism technology. But Democratic State Rep. Ross Wilburn said the designation was originally intended as an incentive for companies to develop the technology.

“It is not designed to provide or promote any type of benefit to one company or another,” Wilburn said during House debate.

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In Kansas, ZeroEyes' chief strategy officer presented an overview of its technology in February to the House K-12 Education Budget Committee. It included a live demonstration of AI gun detection and several actual surveillance images showing weapons in schools, parking lots and transit stations. The presentation also noted that authorities arrested about a dozen people last year directly as a result of ZeroEyes alerts.

Kansas Republican Rep. Adam Thomas initially proposed naming ZeroEyes specifically in the funding legislation. The final version removed the company's name but kept the criteria essentially limiting it to ZeroEyes.

House K-12 Budget Committee Chair Christy Williams, a Republican, strongly defended the provision. She said during a negotiating meeting with senators that because of student safety, the state could not afford to delay the standard bidding process. The company's technology was also described as unique.

“We don't feel there is another alternative,” Williams said last month.

The $5 million appropriation won't cover every school, but Thomas said the amount could increase later once people see how successful ZeroEyes' technology is.

“I hope it does exactly what we've seen it do and prevents gun violence in schools, and we can eventually get it in every school,” Thomas told the Associated Press.

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Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri. Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut contributed from Des Moines, Iowa.

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