By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — School security cameras have traditionally been most useful after something goes wrong. With the persistent threat of school shootings, a growing number of districts are using artificial intelligence to turn those cameras into an early warning system.
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Companies such as ZeroEyes scan security camera feeds for guns in hundreds of school districts. When the AI flags a possible weapon, the alert goes to a human reviewer who can call 911.
A survey by Education Week found about 25% of districts now use AI-powered cameras to detect threats or fights. In Arizona, the Tolleson Union High School District uses AI camera technology.
But as the systems expand, their limits are on display.
In October, police in Baltimore County, Maryland, surrounded a group of students outside Kenwood High School with guns drawn after an alert from an AI system called Omnilert. Officers searched one student and found that what the software flagged as a gun was really a bag of Doritos.
In Nashville, the opposite happened. An AI system failed to spot a gun used in a deadly shooting at Antioch High School in January 2025. The company said the weapon was not visible to the cameras running the software.
On the latest episode of Generation AI, security consultant Elisa Mula said those cases point to a common misunderstanding. Mula is the founder of EM Designs and advises schools on technology and physical security.
“There is a huge misconception that because it’s AI, it’s artificial intelligence, it’s kind of like foolproof,” Mula said. “In no situation should we let AI run and make security-related decisions like the ones you just mentioned.”
The advantage of the software, she said, is that few schools can afford to have someone watching monitors around the clock.
“Having an AI that sort of combs through a lot of the noise or the data that’s coming in, the alarms, while the officer or the person in that responsible charge is making the decisions that only a human should make — that’s sort of the critical piece of layering both the human intelligence with the artificial intelligence,” Mula said.
The cost to deploy these cameras varies by district, Mula said, but there are government grant programs available to help districts afford an AI upgrade.
Districts are also turning to AI weapons scanners at entrances. The units resemble metal detectors but promise faster, more accurate screenings. However, vendors, including Evolv and Xtract One, have faced complaints about false alarms.
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In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Evolv alleging its scanners failed in several instances to detect weapons in schools while flagging laptops, binders and water bottles instead. The company later settled without admitting wrongdoing.
Mula said the technology has improved, but that no system substitutes for planning.
“AI is not a problem solver. It is a tool,” she said. “This is merely just a supplement to the overall policy and procedure.”
Some states are weighing mandates that would require schools to install AI security systems. Arizona has not. Mula said most bills she has reviewed are poorly written.
She favors a “security life safety standard” comparable to fire codes, but one that lets individual schools choose what fits their campus and community.
Under that approach, she said, stakeholders decide what their buildings, students and assets require, then coordinate with state and local officials, law enforcement and first responders, while remaining accountable for maintaining their own systems.
Legislation that dictates a specific product, she said, works against that.
“There is no one-size fits all,” Mula said. “And that, I think, is the wrong path to go down.”
Generation AI airs Wednesday nights on AZ Family+.
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