Starting in August, Jacksonville schools will implement Zero Eyes AI software to monitor security camera feeds for items resembling guns and other weapons, adding an extra layer of security alongside school resource officers.”This could be the difference between life and death for some people,” said Benjamin Nunnally with the City of Jacksonville. He emphasized that the new system will not replace school resource officers but will add an extra level of security. “They can get a response going immediately, without having to wait for anything to happen,” Nunnally said.Given the increase in school shootings over the past 25 years, Nunnally said systems like this are vital for ensuring students’ safety. “People always think of them as being issues that affect someone else some other place, they don’t really become real for you, but we don’t want to be caught unaware if it were to become real for us,” he said.The Zero Eyes AI software costs about $30,000 annually. The first two years of the three-year agreement will be funded by a state grant, and the final year’s bill will be split between the city and the police department. Nunnally expressed hope that the program’s effectiveness will never need to be tested. “Our ideal situation is we never have evidence that it does or doesn’t work. The situation never comes up and we go, well but that wasn’t money wasted,” he said.The new software should be operational by the time students return in August, and it will integrate with the existing security system without visible changes.
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. —
Starting in August, Jacksonville schools will implement Zero Eyes AI software to monitor security camera feeds for items resembling guns and other weapons, adding an extra layer of security alongside school resource officers.
“This could be the difference between life and death for some people,” said Benjamin Nunnally with the City of Jacksonville.
He emphasized that the new system will not replace school resource officers but will add an extra level of security. “They can get a response going immediately, without having to wait for anything to happen,” Nunnally said.
Given the increase in school shootings over the past 25 years, Nunnally said systems like this are vital for ensuring students’ safety.
“People always think of them as being issues that affect someone else some other place, they don’t really become real for you, but we don’t want to be caught unaware if it were to become real for us,” he said.
The Zero Eyes AI software costs about $30,000 annually. The first two years of the three-year agreement will be funded by a state grant, and the final year’s bill will be split between the city and the police department.
Nunnally expressed hope that the program’s effectiveness will never need to be tested. “Our ideal situation is we never have evidence that it does or doesn’t work. The situation never comes up and we go, well but that wasn’t money wasted,” he said.
The new software should be operational by the time students return in August, and it will integrate with the existing security system without visible changes.