With 11 weapons found in the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) this school year, the need to protect students and staff from gun violence has never been greater. And thanks to Omnilert Gun Detect, the district just got a whole lot safer! As reported in the below broadcast clips from ABC and NBC, MNPS just completed the implementation of the Omnilert system, and it will be up and running throughout the district next week. That means existing cameras with this technology integrated into them will now be able to visually detect a weapon in a fraction of second. Not only that, but once verified, the system can also automatically initiate a quick and robust response such as notify police, send alerts to students and staff, lock doors and provide situational intelligence as needed in an active shooter situation.
Working Together to Protect Our Children
MNPS first announced their plans to use AI Gun detection technology in 2023. Since then, the district has been collaborating closely with Omnilert and its partner, System Integrations, as well as the local Nashville police and MNPS staff to ensure seamless operation. According to the district, “We are continuing to move forward with the implementation of the Omnilert system with school teams getting signed up into the system and ongoing collaboration with the MNPD on integration with their systems.”
With ABC reporting that gun violence is the leading cause of death in Tennessee children, the Omnilert system provides another layer of technology to the MNPS security infrastructure. According to Omnilert’s CEO Dave Fraser, “AI is much more reliable than having humans monitor cameras. It can also cover a much larger area than metal detectors that are just placed in school lobbies and operate in buildings that do not have school resource officers.”
The MNPS is just one of the hundreds of schools and businesses that Omnilert has been working with across the country to keep their students and staff safe. That includes more than 7,000 cameras in the Baltimore school system which is the largest deployment of this kind of technology in the country..
How the System Works
The Omnilert system is the most effective AI visual gun detection system on the market with its unique ability to not only detect and verify weapons in seconds, but to also automatically initiate a full emergency response designed to save lives.
Once a gun is detected by Omnilert Gun Detect, it sends an alert to a designated person or team that could be either Omnilert Monitoring, the school’s own security operations team, a third-party monitoring service or a combination of those to verify detections. When a threat is confirmed, Omnilert Gun Detect initiates an alert that sets the security team and police into action, along with prescribed response scenarios that can protect those in harm’s way. This solution gives emergency response teams advance warning before shots are fired and delivers precise information on the location with a photo and video of the potential shooter. The platform was also designed with privacy concerns in mind as there is no use of facial recognition on subjects being monitored and the video feeds never leave the school premises.
To learn more about Omnilert Gun Detect and how it provides schools with protection from active shooters, reference these resources: