Superintendent Shahe Bagdasarian said it was an easy decision to apply for a grant through Omnilert, a company that aims to prevent school shootings and violence through innovative technologies.
“We need money to try these things,” Bagdasarian said.
An U.S. flag outside of Oak Lawn High School hung at half-staff after a shooter on Wednesday targeted a Catholic school in Minneapolis, killing two children and wounding 17 people.
The district announced this month it was selected as part of Omnilert’s nationwide Secure Schools Grant Program that covers costs for three years of the company’s gun detect appliance. It can be integrated into existing security camera systems, online training sessions and workshops, and technical support.
The company’s AI system is able to quickly identify a gun and send the data to a human expert to verify before contacting first responders, according to Omnilert. The system was up and running ahead of students’ first day back on Aug. 13, Bagdasarian said.
“Through detailed situational intelligence, first responders know exactly where to go, who to look for and what type of threat they face, ensuring a faster, more effective response,” Omnilert’s website states.
Qualifying public and private schools were required to have existing security infrastructure, including camera systems, participate in evaluations both before and after the system was installed and demonstrate commitments to improving school security through technology. Schools in high-risk areas or with limited resources would be prioritized, according to Omnilert’s website.
Bagdasarian said the district was attracted to AI gun detection as a noninvasive proactive security measure that can detect firearms before they enter the high school.
“District 229 has done a good job with school safety,” Bagdasarian said. “But there’s always work to be done.”
But as AI gun detection systems become more popular, not only at schools but in such places as Chicago’s L stations, some are sounding alarms about potential breaches of privacy as well as the systems’ accuracy.
Stephen Ragan, a policy and advocacy strategist for ACLU Illinois focused on privacy, technology and surveillance, said school districts looking to prevent potential shootings should shift their focus away from AI and toward improving student outcomes.
“Surveillance cameras themselves have not made kids safer in schools,” Ragan said. “And there’s really no reason to think that adding artificial intelligence on top will solve the problem.”
Ragan said systems such as Omnilert’s are subject to false alarms that could lead to negative interactions between students and the law enforcement that are called to respond.
The AI can also miss the firearms they’re designed to look out for, as in the case of a Nashville school district that was the target of a school shooting earlier this year. Despite having invested $1 million in Omnilert’s gun detection system, CNN reported, the district failed to detect the shooter’s gun due to it being too far from the surveillance cameras. Omnilert said the gun went undetected because it was not visible.
Ragan also advocated on behalf of students’ privacy, as companies like Omnilert are not required to tell families how they use data gathered from their systems.
Bagdasarian said information gathered through the gun detection system is confidential and that facial recognition is not being used.
“We want to put families’ minds at ease,” Bagdasarian said.
Outside of the gun detection system, security measures in place in District 229 include ensuring security officers patrol the high school’s limited entrances during busy times and keeping classrooms locked. The district has so far abstained from installing traditional weapon detection methods including metal detectors, which Bagdasarian said can create the stigma of a prison-like atmosphere.
Bagdasarian said the district has collaborated with nearby districts that were targets of threats of violence to develop creative strategies to keep schools safe. Three Oak Lawn students in 2021 were charged in connection with bomb threats to schools posted on social media.
“It just takes one situation,” Bagdasarian said. “Hopefully we never find anything, but we have the product.”
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