Editor’s note: Steve S. Rao is a Council Member At Large and Former Mayor Pro Tem for the Town of Morrisville and an Opinion Writer for WRAL Tech Wire.  He served on the Board of the New American Economy, now the American Immigration Council, and on the NC League of Municipalities Race and Equity Task Force. He is a regular contributor to WRAL TechWire.

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MORRISVILLE – A few weeks ago, in my Op Ed, Making North Carolina, A Smart State,  I shared how cities, counties and our state can leverage the Internet of Things and the Data Economy to enhance the quality of services we provide to our residents, accelerate the growth of Technology Start Ups, and create the jobs of the innovation economy, right here in North Carolina.

However, recently, in the midst of tragic gun violence, most recently in Uvalde, Texas, Buffalo, New York, Highland Park, Illiinois and a recent uptick in gun shootings close to home in Durham and Raleigh, I started asking myself how can the application of smart technology help us address gun violence and keep our community safer.

Making NC a ‘smart state:’ Lessons learned from the Morrisville smart city playbook

 

As an elected official and Political Analyst on PBS Carolinas Black Issues Forum and a number of radio shows, most of my comments and insight on reducing gun violence over the past few weeks have been focused on Red Flag Laws, Background Checks, investments in Mental Health programs, raising the age of gun purchase from 18 to 21, and many of the components of the Bi Partisan Gun Reform Legislation signed into law by President Biden last month.

Even Governor Roy Cooper has been addressing how we can put in place gun control laws keep our communities and neighborhoods safe.

Other solutions for gun control have come from Republican leaders,  including former U.S. President Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, focused on more stringent security measures, including single points of entry, metal detectors, more school police and armed teachers.

This years’ North Carolina budget would nearly double the state’s school resource officer-specific program from $18 million planned for next year to $33 million. This is a matching grant program, and costs would increase in part because the state would provide $4 for every $1 in non-state funds a school spends toward a school resource officer, in low-wealth school systems.

Steve Rao

The Budget also provides $32 million more than originally planned last fall toward a competitive school safety grant program. That program will be in its second year, and the proposed budget is now $41.7 million. The grants are “to support students in crisis, school safety training, and safety equipment in schools.”

In addition, Wake County Schools will also be continuing their agreement with Law Enforcement Agencies to continue to provide  School Resource Officers at schools along with taking into account tighter security measures as part of new school construction.

The challenge is that Metal detectors can clog entrances, which could make students more vulnerable to attack, security experts note.  Investments in School Resource Officers and Safety Grants are a great start, but still can fall short in terms of predicting or stopping the next incident of gun violence.

In addition, Security cameras aren’t routinely monitored — they’re more likely to be a source of evidence after an incident. And gunshot-detection technologies like ShotSpotter, which uses acoustic sensors to identify loud noises, have been criticized as ineffective.

With minimal progress on gun control measures in Congress and the challenges of  tighter school security efforts, it may be time to explore further how next generation weapons detection technologies can serve as a potential deterrent to mass shootings.

AI technologies and smart sensors  can serve as an effective alternative to metal detectors and other systems.can also be a part of a comprehensive gun safety strategy.

Let me explain.

APPLYING TECH TO HELP BOOST GUN SAFETY

During a presentation at the Internet of Things Slam at SAS Software, Adair Grover, CEO of Maryland Based, Wi-Fiber sparked my interest on the topic when he confirmed that gun sensors and gun detection were a part of his companies’ smart intelligent platform.   Grover went on to explain that  if authorities could use artificial intelligence to spot guns or identify potential shooters earlier, they might be able to head off gun violence like the school massacres in Uvalde, Texas, Oxford, Mich., and Parkland, Florida.

This week I took some time to research some specific examples of how these types of technologies are being applied to address gun safety.

Evolv uses a combination of ultra-low frequency electromagnetic fields and advanced sensors to detect concealed weapons as people walk through a portal.  (https://www.axios.com/2022/06/07/ai-gun-detection-school-shootings_

  • This high-speed screening system is already in use at several sports arenas, entertainment venues and theme parks, the Washington Post reported.
  • North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, with 150,000 students, is installing the scanners at a cost of $1.7 million over three years.
  • It’s not foolproof, however: Evolv’s system generated false positives from certain Google Chromebook laptops, according to an analysis by IPVM, a security-industry trade publication.

Hexwave, developed at a Massachusetts Institute of Technology lab and licensed by Liberty Defense Holdings, is a similar system. It uses 3D imaging and AI to detect concealed weapons as people walk between two panels.

(https://www.axios.com/2022/06/07/ai-gun-detection-school-shootings)

ZeroEyes, used by schools in 18 states and now being piloted at Oxford High, integrates its AI software with a school’s existing surveillance cameras to identify guns in a camera’s field of view. (Assailants often brandish their weapon before a rampage, the company says.)

  • The security image, stamped with the time and location, is then reviewed by a trained military veteran to verify that the object detected is in fact a gun.
  • Within about five seconds, ZeroEyes will issue an alert to school authorities, providing a description and location of the threat — often before any shots are fired, cofounder Mike Lahiff tells Axios.
  • The technology serves as “a force multiplier” with the goal of getting better information to first responders more quickly, he said.

(https://www.axios.com/2022/06/07/ai-gun-detection-school-shootings)

Recently,  Durham Mayor Pro Tem Mark Anthony Middleton recently hosted a Town Hall Meeting with Shot Spotter, to explore other solutions to address increasing gun shootings in Durham.

The million dollar question is whether these systems can or will prevent future shootings.

ZeroEyes says it has detected “thousands of guns” since launching in 2018, including BB guns and paint guns that students use to play games like “Assassin” on school grounds.

The challenge is that AI technology can be expensive, about $25 monthly per camera, in the case of ZeroEyes.  In a large high school with 200 cameras, this could equate to $5,000 per month and many Schools do not have this amount of money at their disposal.   (https://www.axios.com/2022/06/07/ai-gun-detection-school-shootings)

One option for the schools may be to encourage the County Commissioners and School Boards to allocate more dollars to these types of AI Based solutions in an effort to address School Safety.    These efforts could be a nice addition to measures already being considered by Wake County, such as increasing the number of School Resource Officers.    In addition, perhaps, additional gun reform efforts could include additional funding for these types of technologies.  there could be opportunities to have more ARP dollars invested

ACCELERATING HOME GROWN INNOVATION

As we continue to develop out Smart City Innovation Playbook in the Triangle and North Carolina, I can only hope that our Venture Capital Investors, can explore investments in AI based gun detection companies.   Recently, we have seen an uptick in local start ups, leveraging best of breed AI and data/analytics to establish high growth companies and work with local governments in the such areas as  health care, sustainability, and transportation.

Perhaps, it is time that we look at leveraging smart city solutions for public safety solutions in the midst of such senseless violence.    We can look to the leadership of RIOT to encourage more of these types of start ups to sign up for the RIOT Accelerator Program!

Finally,  School Systems should be exploring these types of solutions.   Another tragedy, like Uvalde, could be prevented if Law enforcement could show up in a few seconds, rather then a few minutes before it is too late.

I know that no parent, today, dropping their child off at school feels confident that  a similar incident cannot take place at their child’s school.   I look forward to speaking at the next Wake County Commissioners and School Board Meetings, on how innovative technology, if utilized in the right way, could potentially save lives.

Finally, as the Triangle Region is abundant with market leading companies in Data, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence, I think we have a great opportunity to leverage on the experience and leadership of these top companies, to encourage more research and innovation in gun shot detection technology and public safety solutions.     IBM, SAS, Oracle, Microsoft, Cisco, Red Hat  and the numerous market leading tech companies in our region can continue to play a role in focusing on these markets and play a more active role in supporting emerging companies in this area.

As we continue to develop our Smart City and Innovation Playbook, let us not be afraid to think out of the box, unite the best and brightest minds of our region, to collaborate, to innovate, and do everything we can to  keep our communities safe.