Northern California community to use AI to potentially stop school shootings
ROCKLIN — Technology is being displayed in Placer County that could potentially stop a school shooter.
Community members got a glimpse of the latest security technology available to stop an active shooter on school campuses.
"We use machine learning just like a lot of technology today," said Spade Security Services President Pranil Shankar.
Spade Security celebrated its grand opening in Rocklin Friday afternoon by conducting a simulated armed gunman attack.
The company uses AI-enabled cameras to spot the person holding a gun.
"There are machines that have learned how to detect someone with a pistol or a gun or a long rifle or if it's holstered," Shankar said.
That instantly triggers a warning to people inside the building.
"The cameras are going to pick it up, and right after that, the doors are going to lock," Shankar said.
Then, a drone is launched to follow the gunman as he moves through the campus. It gives location information in real-time that can be passed on to police.
"We're only as good as our partnership with the community we serve and, realistically, our industry is really moving towards technology," Rocklin Police Chief Rustin Banks said.
"This technology certainly, I think, would put a lot of parents at ease," said Greg Roberson with the Rocklin Chamber of Commerce.
Shankar has two small kids of his own and said there is a growing need for schools to modernize security measures.
"Schools are going to adapt to some type of robotics," he said. "Whether it's a drone, whether it's a camera, it's important to save lives."
The company said this type of technology can also be used in shopping malls and to prevent shootings in the workplace.