VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Volusia County Schools purchased and activated an artificial intelligence-powered security system called ZeroEyes, which is now active in all Volusia secondary schools with plans to expand.
The AI system uses existing security cameras already in place. It can identify when a weapon is spotted on camera, and alert authorities within seconds. Captain Todd Smith, Director of Safety and Security for Volusia County Schools, says the district paid about $50,000 for the new system, after the Daytona Beach Police Department put it to use in downtown Daytona Beach earlier this year.
“If somebody walked up with a firearm out, it would send an alert to the ZeroEyes security operations center. They would then review it and send us an alert immediately so that we could then go and address that threat in real time,” said Smith.
Smith said ZeroEyes isn’t replacing any of their current security measures, but is another tool he and his team will use to keep students safe in Volusia County Schools.
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“This gives us just another layer of security to ensure that somebody that’s on our campuses with a firearm is noticed before anybody else,” he said. “Sometimes it takes a person to hear a gunshot or somebody sees something. This cuts all of that out.”
Smith said Volusia County Schools had about 900 tips about school threats submitted via the FortifyFL app last year. With so many potential threats, he says it’s important to keep security systems up to date.
“This is cutting edge technology,” he said. “We’re always keeping our foot on the gas, trying to make sure that our kids are safe and we’re doing everything we can to keep them safe.”
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