27J Schools incorporate AI system to detect guns, as Colorado students begin school year

Students attending Colorado's 27J School District will notice new tech as they head back to class after summer break. Riverdale Ridge High School is using tech to help keep students safe before a threat reaches the front door.

"Safety and security are the top priority for our for our students," said Sam Ortega, Director of Safety and Security at 27J School District.

Now, with a new AI-integrated system called IntelliSee, all of the existing cameras outside of high schools throughout the district will be able to detect if or when someone pulls out a gun.

"This is just a proactive system that we use that will again enhance our security and allow us to respond more efficiently to any potential threat that we may have," said Ortega.

The system will use the camera's existing imaging, but it will now be able to pinpoint if a gun is present in the imaging.

"That, then, triggers the alert once it's been validated and verified," said Scott Keplinger, CEO at IntelliSee.

Keplinger tells CBS Colorado that's when his team will then be able to alert police and the school immediately, so they can determine what steps to take next.

"People are still making the decisions; our response teams, our safety and security team, [and] our local law enforcement," said Ortega.

This AI is designed to take the time and manpower out of monitoring cameras around the clock, allowing district leaders to focus on other parts of their security plan.

"Unfortunately, we don't have folks who watch the cameras and monitor them 24/7 like we would with the AI detection monitors 24/7," said Ortega. "[In] the current process, we don't have anything that would alert us that quickly. Here it will give us the alert so that we can respond quicker."

School leaders and the company also assure the AI system will not interfere with people's personal data.

"We really did our due diligence on the research on researching the AI software, all of the AI software that's available in this day and age," said Ortega. "It's not facial recognition; it's not bio data that goes into existing camera servers. They don't have access to our camera servers. It's a still shot, so that's how they monitor it. So, we're very well assured that it's not going to violate those."

"You don't need that level of information to make your school or other organization safer. You just need that real-time situational awareness of what your cameras are seeing at the moment," said Keplinger.

It's real-time detection they hope to never need, but it gives them the time to react if a threat is present.

"We are really looking forward to having it be a positive, proactive response to the potential threats that we have out there," said Ortega.

Right now, the district has a three-year contract with IntelliSee, which costs about $170,000 in grant funding.

This AI system will only run outside in areas including the parking lot and athletic fields at Brighton, Prairie View, and Riverdale Ridge High schools, as well as the district's Innovations and Options, and 27J's alternative campus.

Parents and students who walk onto campus may also notice signs on display at the entrance of the school that explain the presence of this AI system.