A group of former Navy SEALs and technology experts are working to develop artificial intelligence to protect people from mass shootings, especially in churches.
In recent episodes, Higher Ground with Billy Hallowell On a podcast, Matt Montana, director of safety at Valley Baptist Church in Bakersfield, California, said the church is preparing to use AI against armed groups.
“I started working here a little over three years ago after I retired from law enforcement,” said Montana, a former law enforcement officer. “And as we evaluated the safety needs of our community, we really felt it was important to identify some type of technology that would allow us to identify if someone has a weapon on campus. Ta.”
When Montana was looking for a way to protect her church, which has four campuses, she came across this company. zero eyes, founded by former Navy SEALs.according to face wirethe company describes itself as “human-validated, proactive gun detection and situational awareness software that integrates into existing digital security cameras with a mission to stop mass shootings and gun-related violence.” I am.
Rob Huberty, COO and co-founder of ZeroEyes, told Hallowell that he and his team began working on launching ZeroEyes in response to the 2018 Parkland High School shooting.
“We all saw the video of the shooter outside, he had a gun out in front of the camera, and he was actually talking to other students. He was saying, ‘Get out of here.’ I said, “My bad,”’ Huberty recalled. “And we said, ‘Here we have an opportunity to see the gun and do something before something happens. What if someone saw this?’
The team thought about how technology could fill the gap when people can’t actively monitor security footage.
“We said, ‘Can we use AI to help detect guns?'” Huberty added that nothing like that exists on the market. “So we decided, let’s build this and…let’s do it in the least intrusive way.”
To hone its technology, ZeroEyes worked with schools to process images frame by frame to determine if a gun would be found.
“We’ve just taken images of ourselves carrying guns with these types of cameras and compiled a large database of what the definition of a gun is,” Huberty said, adding that the software uses surveillance cameras to He explained that he would issue a warning for any guns seen in the scene. “If we have an image, we’ll send you an alert and provide you with an image of that location.”
The flagged images are then sent to first responders so they can take immediate protective action to neutralize any threat. Huberty said current cameras do not invade privacy or increase security.
“I really just started researching it and thought it would be a good fit for us,” Montana said of ZeroEyes.
Valley Baptist Church has not activated ZeroEyes, but its members have expressed support for the company for their protection.
“They appreciate the efforts we are making to protect our congregation,” Montana said.
Montana, who spent the past 14 years assigned to the FBI’s International Terrorism Task Force, said churches and places of worship must take action against those who seek to harm innocent civilians.
“That’s just a fact,” Montana said. “I think it’s very important for me personally and for our church and our houses of faith to be aware of that and be vigilant and not be paranoid.”
Photo credit: ©Kenny Luo/Unsplash
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributor to Christian Headlines and host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast dedicated to sound doctrine and Biblical truth. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Alliance Theological Seminary.
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