Sarasota County Schools announce introduction of Omnilert Gun Detect System
Eve Goode
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Omnilert has announced the roll out of its Gun Detect System in Sarasota County Schools.
It is set to monitor over 4,800 security cameras throughout the whole school district.
This is the largest deployment of gun detection security cameras in Florida and the second largest in the US following on from Baltimore County public schools.
The aim is to minimise and eradicate the presence of weapons on school campuses.
Omnilert Gun Detect is protecting several hundred schools and other organisations within the US.
Features of the Omnilert Gun Detect
Omnilert use AI visual gun detection and provides 24/7 monitoring with an near-instant response once a gun has been detected due to its automation capabilities.
The AI system can detect both handguns and long guns throughout a campus, with indoor and outdoor detection.
The system automatically sends an alert to a designated person to verify the detections.
Once the alert has been confirmed, this triggers a series of alerts that sets security systems and the police into motion.
The features can automatically lock doors, notify police and trigger alarms to ensure the best possible outcome in the event there is an active shooter on the school campus.
The trial deployment
Sarasota County Schools completed a successful deployment in one of its high schools.
The trial period proved successful with positive results and responses from parents and staff.
Omnilert is now in the process of deploying the system with the full districts camera network.
Within this district alone, the AI system is set to protect over 45,000 students and 5,200 staff members within 56.
Terry Connor, Superintendent for Sarasota County stated: “Maintaining a safe learning environment is paramount for our school district […] Our district is fortunate to have a safety conscious school board and community who understands this need and invests in solutions that will make for safer schools.”
Sean O’Keefe, Director of Security, Sarasota County schools comments:
“Omnilert Gun Detect clearly fit our requirements for flexible detection verification and response escalation with the ability to activate our existing infrastructure of safety systems.”
He continued: “Accurate gun detections and faster verifications are only the beginning of a response. It is critical for us to share the intelligence from Omnilert with our safety systems immediately to ensure we maximise as many seconds or minutes as possible for our police and security teams to respond to a potential situation and to protect lives.”