PLYMOUTH, Mich. – The next wave of artificial intelligence could be coming to a school near you.
Plymouth-Canton Community Schools (P-CCS) have been beta testing a new technology, Avigilon, in partnership with Motorola.
This technology infuses AI into the camera system. The district has 16,000 students with 1,600 cameras monitoring its campuses; but monitoring them all in real time is impossible.
However, P-CCS Safety and Security Director Josh Meier says the solution could be AI, as one capability of the system they’re testing is the ability to detect an assailant with a weapon on its own.
They tested the system over the summer break of 2024, bringing in police officers with real rifles.
The cameras spotted the threat in the parking lot long before the officer even entered the school.
“We had already alerted to this long before they walked through that door, but we also wanted to see how long an interior camera would take,” that’s when they played the recorded simulation for Local 4’s Nick Monacelli, which showed the camera system detecting the weapon the moment the officer stepped inside the door.
When asked how the system works with smaller weapons, Meier said, “We’ve had pretty positive results, all the way down to a revolver.”
Once the security system detected the weapon, it automatically set a series of events in motion, including locking down the building, making P.A. announcements, and sending alerts to teachers and staff on a mobile app with real-time information and a checklist of what to do next.
“All of those things are happening simultaneously,” Meier said. “We’ve taken the human error out and the human reaction time.”
He added, “When I look at (other school shootings) that occurred, somebody walking up to school with a firearm visible, if I can detect that before they even get to the front door, that’s a win.”
Weapon detection is just one capability of the system. It can also be given a set of parameters to watch for, all while learning patterns and recognizing when something is seen on camera that’s not normal.
“If it’s used to seeing students transition between 10:30 a.m. and 10:40 a.m., but then at 11 a.m. it’s detecting motion that it’s saying is unusual, it’s gonna tell us,” said Meier. “It’s going to say there’s an unusual event occurring. The camera is going to come up, and we can quickly look at a 10-second clip and say, ‘Oh, that’s just a student going to the bathroom.’”
The Plymouth-Canton district is one of just two districts in the country working with Motorola to test this system.
They’ve noted that automated notifications to law enforcement—information and pictures or videos sent when an assailant is present—would be a good addition.
“We have to give them a description over the radio or to 911. Instead, we want to send that directly to officers in their patrol car so they know instantly who they’re looking for,” Meier said.
P-CCS Superintendent Dr. Monica Merritt has been impressed by the system so far but admits there has been pushback as some believe the system is intrusive.
“And that is absolutely a real fear, that people may think that, are you policing my kids? So you really have to communicate your why. We’re not here to watch, we’re not big brother. We are looking and utilizing our resources, our people, to ensure safety,” said Merritt.
One downside to the AI system and weapon detection is that it can’t detect a concealed weapon.
The district has a four-legged answer to that, with K9 Echo. He’s a weapons detection dog that can smell gunpowder or other elements connected to a weapon.
“The students don’t even know that he’s actually doing something,” said K9 Handler Scott Hughesdon. “So as he works, we keep it casual. A quick sniff, and he’s on his way.”
Another layer of security is tied to mental health.
“I think that we can’t just talk about safety without talking about mental health as well,” said Dr. Merritt. “They go hand in hand. So for us, when we think about our students, it’s important to make sure that we are providing for all the supports that they need.”
Some of that support actually goes back to K9 Echo, who is also trained as a therapy dog.
“We’ve had students that have had a bad day, and a teacher will ask if Echo can visit,” said Hughesdon. “He comes over, and it’s so cool to watch him. He’ll let them pet him, and you can almost see the stress coming out the student’s body and say, ‘Okay, I think I can get through the rest of the day.’”
Between the mental health strategies, K9 Echo, and Motorola technology, there are multiple levels of security. While nothing can fully prevent a tragedy, those in P-CCS say it’s the biggest advancement in the protection they’ve seen.
“I thought this was going to be a game changer, said Meier. “But when I saw it work, how quickly we got the alert, that’s when I knew this is going to make schools safer.”
P-CCS received a $1.9 million grant from the state of Michigan to pay for the Motorola Avigilon system.