Page 72 - Security Today, January/February 2019

have, turning them into essential insights and actions that significantly elevate educa- tors’ ability to keep students safe. As a result, video AI solutions are inherently cost- friendly, especially in comparison to more drastic options, such as multiple metal detec- tors set up at all of a school’s entry points or a staff of armed guards.
Beyond affordability, video AI also helps transform a school’s safety strengths without needing to transform the school itself. Such solutions don’t replace human judgement, but instead enhance school staff’s ability to quickly assess what is happening and how to best respond.
Additionally, given the nature of how video AI works, the technology doesn’t require schools or their students to change their daily lifestyles. This can be incredibly valuable in school environments, where the trauma and mental strain of shootings— regardless of whether a school experienced its own tragedy—does not need to be aggra- vated on a daily basis by new, in-your-face safety measures.
Earlier in 2018, lawmakers in Illinois pro- posed plans to provide schools with funds that could help replace armed security offi- cers with unarmed social workers and behavior therapists citing mental health sup- port as a better alternative.2 Furthermore, a study evaluating the impacts of metal detec- tor use in schools over 15 years found some of their research suggesting that the presence of metal detectors might detrimentally impact student perceptions of safety.3
The Extensive Power of Video AI
Juxtaposed with how easy it is to adopt, video AI technology’s capacity to enhance a school’s safety and security can feel almost disproportionate. Its object and facial recog- nition capabilities are simply that impressive. The latest solutions available can be uniquely configured to the needs and layout of a school, allowing administrators and security personnel to identify and establish ‘hot spots,’ or areas of special concern such as entrances, exits and common gathering points that could be at higher risk for being targeted for violent attacks. School officials can set up alerts and be notified whenever suspicious or off-hours activity is detected in those areas, enabling preventative actions to be taken if necessary.
Taking footage and live feeds from multi- ple cameras, a video AI solution also enables cross-camera tracking or scanning crowds in and around school grounds with the ability to track individuals and objects from one area of camera coverage to another without losing sight of any specific person or thing.
Leveraging advanced, highly accurate object detection, video AI solutions can identify shapes correlating with weapons or items of concern, such as boxes, bags or other notable objects that could present risks of varying levels. Security personnel can be issued alerts when questionable objects are detected or left abandoned for periods of time.
Schools can also pre-load their video AI solutions with publicly available information that can be cross-referenced, enabling the system to send automated identification alerts if it recognizes registered sex offend- ers, wanted criminals or other dangerous individuals on school grounds. This capabil- ity can also extend to include known identi- ties who should have restricted or no access to a school or facility. Incidences of children being picked up—or worse, kidnapped—by a non-custodial or restricted family member can be very common, particularly in the chaos of students released at the end of the
"...the technology does not require schools or their students to change their daily lifestyles."
day. But with video AI, schools gain a proac- tive measure to prevent such issues. While these features may spur privacy concerns, the technology can actually be programmed to only detect what’s pre-loaded, eliminating any worries of information being recorded about the general public.
In fact, schools should ensure they select video AI solutions that don’t need to collect personal identifiable information (PII) to function effectively. The best technologies available today can generate and assign meta- data on anonymous physical identification characteristics based on what they see through cameras. Rather than storing names, faces, hair color, or similar details, these solu- tions build a digital map of math coordinates to produce a non-invasive skeletal map and timecode to match. This turns any individual that appears on camera into a hash ID, main- taining their privacy while allowing schools to avoid the risk factors that come with stor- ing and protecting such information.
Better Safety, in Crises and Beyond
While the tragedies of school shootings and the damage they leave behind provide the
most pressing need for sensible safety solu- tions, video AI technologies offer the promise of enhanced security both in crisis situations and on an ongoing basis. In a hypothetical school shooting scenario, a video AI solution would deliver several opportunities for pre- ventative actions such as sending alerts when any individual is in an area he or she shouldn’t be at that time, notifying security personnel of any suspicious objects or activities that are detected and more. These alerts would pro- vide school administrators with ample time to put their lockdown or evacuation proce- dures into action while onsite security staff manage the situation and local police author- ities are notified. The life-saving potential of video AI-generated alerts is substantial, espe- cially considering how valuable that extra time can be in mitigating crises or preventing them altogether.
That benefit isn’t just limited to the crisis event alone, either. A school that implements a video AI solution instantly empowers its own safety operations with the wealth of insights the technology provides. By seeing and understanding how foot traffic moves in the school, where the hot spots are, areas that seem problematic during evacuations or lockdowns and similar details, school administrators can constantly refine their safety measures and procedures. The usual drills can be evolved and perfected based on insights of a school’s physical environment that administrators previously couldn’t access, allowing staff and security to sharper overall in matters of safety. Therefore, video AI technology not only proves effective in the event of a shooting or other crisis, it can actually help fortify a school’s safety process- es beforehand—making its value as a preven- tative measure twofold.
At a time when violent tragedies occur far too frequently at schools across the country, it’s more important than ever to combat the subsequent paralysis and endless debate and seek out solutions that don’t have to take sides and can make a life-saving difference immediately. In video AI, the opportunity is finally available to realize a safer future in schools today, rather than betting hopefully on tomorrow.
Michael Adair is the CEO of Deep North.
1 https://www.mea.org/new-survey-michi- gan-teachers-education-support-profession- als-oppose/
2 https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/illinois- plan-replace-armed-school-officers-with- therapists/
advanced technology
8 campuslifesecurity.com | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019
3 02security.pdf
https://www.edweek.org/media/hankin-