TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) — Leon County Schools is investing $30,00 to keep your kids safe.
The district is working with a software company to use artificial intelligence to detect weapons on five campuses across the county this fall.
Sarah Fore said her daughter is entering first grade this fall. She said the district taking extra steps to keep students safe is comforting.
Her daughter, six-year-old Maddy Fore is excited about entering first grade.
"I love it," Maddy said.
Her mom Sarah said school safety is something she worries about.
"It's scary to think that, you know, it's not something you can ever be prepared for, some kid bringing a weapon to school," Sarah said.
With that in mind, Leon County Schools is testing out a new technology that will aim at stopping school shootings before they happen.
The district investing $30,000 in an artificial intelligence system that can detect guns.
Chief of school safety, security and emergency management Jimmy Williams said will help the school and law enforcement act quickly.
"We will pilot the technology that will detect firearms on our campus that we will be notified immediately in the hopes of preventing any sort of tragedy," Williams said.
The software developed by software company ZeroEyes is already being used in Hernando County.
The program will be tested at the five major high schools in the city before being used on every campus.
AI Expert David Reed with the University of Florida said this technology is promising.
"You think about facial recognition. You can use facial recognition to open your iPhone or you can use it to identify someone entering a school with a gun that looks menacing," Reed said.
The investment in school safety is something Sarah said gives her peace of mind.
"It's definitely reassuring that they have acknowledged that there is a problem and that they're trying to do something about it to stop it before it happens," Sarah said.
The first schools to test out this technology will be Chiles, Leon, Lincoln, Rickards and Godby High Schools.
