Geauga County offices have joined two area school districts in upgrading campus security via the ZeroEyes system, which uses artificial intelligence to detect the presence of a firearm even if the weapon size is as small as 0.1% of the pixels on camera.
Geauga County offices have joined two area school districts in upgrading campus security via the ZeroEyes system, which uses artificial intelligence to detect the presence of a firearm even if the weapon size is as small as 0.1% of the pixels on camera.
During a demonstration April 30 at the Geauga County Office Building on Ravenwood Drive, ZeroEyes Vice President of Education and Local Government Solutions Brett Handell said the AI system, which already operates in Berkshire and Chardon school districts, piggybacks on an existing network of security cameras.
If a weapon is detected, the software sends an instant alert to the company’s team of human monitors in its ZeroEyes Operation Center, based in Honolulu. The team then, within two seconds, assesses whether the threat is real and immediately notifies law enforcement and any other relevant personnel.
Handell said security and first responder notifications go out as early as five seconds after a weapon has been detected.
Geauga County Auditor Chuck Walder, who also oversees information technology through the county’s Automatic Data Processing department, said the technology started in schools.
“Schools, as you know, are big targets for people for a variety of nefarious reasons,” he said. “This product was developed by ex-military and ex-law enforcement, and it’s a detection-only product.”
Walder said the ZeroEyes system does not look invasively at a person or notify whether they are legally carrying a concealed weapon.
ADP Chief Deputy Administrator Frank Antenucci said the county got a good deal on the system, which will cover the office building, Geauga County Engineer’s Office and the dog warden, as well as county offices on the square and the exterior of the courthouse.
The cost for the service is about $73,000 per year, he said.
Geauga County Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand said the technology was in use over the previous weekend during the Geauga County Maple Festival and immediately notified law enforcement of a false positive when two teens were captured aiming toy weapons at each other near the Park Elementary Auditorium.
“We got notified that it was a false positive, but right along with that came a picture of what the ZeroEyes (monitors) saw,” he said. “So in our email, we could see exactly what they saw and determine that it was two kids with toy guns.”
Chardon Police Chief Scott Niehus said the app accompanying the ZeroEyes program tracks the weapon as it passes other cameras, meaning a person brandishing a weapon can be easily located.
Although initially skeptical of the technology, Niehus said his experience during the maple festival convinced him of its worth.
“Needless to say, in the few experiences that we’ve had, I’ve become a believer in this,” he said. “When you see the distance that this camera was from where these young people were at and (consider) it was still able to recognize that, hey, yeah, they are in possession of something that looks like a firearm.”
Handell said the company was founded by former Navy SEALs who, after returning from multiple tours in the Middle East and receiving Ivy League educations, were shocked into action by the February 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
For its Honolulu control center, the Philadelphia-based company hires former law enforcement and military personnel who can not only identify, but articulate, a threat with a calm demeanor during a high-intensity situation, Handell said.
The ZOC in Honolulu provides the two most valuable pieces of information they can: time and situational awareness, he said.
“And what I mean by situational awareness is the exact location of a threat,” he said. “What do they look like, what type of weapon they have and, most importantly, how much time has elapsed since they were underneath each camera with that firearm.”
Handell referenced the detection of toy guns during the maple festival.
“We get a detection for a Nerf gun, or an airsoft gun, and it’s clearly non-lethal,” he said. “We still want to keep you in the loop, but we don’t want to cause a chaotic situation.”
Forensic studies of the actions of mass shooters have shown most brandish their weapons, in sight of a camera, for up to several minutes before committing to their act of violence. That is valuable time, Handell said.
In a live demonstration, Joe Birli, who is in charge of information technology physical security for the county, accompanied GCSO Sgt. John Copen to the currently empty board of elections space in the basement of the county office building.
The pair were spotted immediately by cameras, but once a prop gun was detected in Birli’s hands, text and email notifications began pouring into law enforcement and county officials in the room.
Handell said the ZeroEyes system is built on high-quality modeling of weapons in multiple configurations and positions.
“A lot of people ask us about when it’s a dark setting, like, when it’s nighttime or when you’re in a dark room,” he said. “We work just as well in a dark setting as we do a normal bright setting. So, I think you can see, the proof is sort of in these detections here.”
Birli’s prop weapon was detected immediately, even behind a darkened pane of glass.
“We’re very much reliant on camera quality,” Handell said, adding ZeroEyes ran multiple tests on different cameras around the county’s properties.
“You guys have some unbelievable cameras here,” he said. “I will say (Birli has) done a pretty dang good job with that.”
