Signs promoting safety are seen on Las Vegas Area Transportation Commission 109 Maryland Avenue buses Thursday, June 8, 2023.
Las Vegas Review-Journal | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
Next time you visit Vegas, you’ll have a lot more eyes on you if you decide to take the local transit system.
As part of a $33 million, multi-year upgrade, the Southern Nevada Regional Transportation Commission will add system-wide artificial intelligence from gun detection software provider ZeroEyes to a system that scans passengers on more than 400 buses to identify their identities. identity.
Tom Atteberry, director of safety and security operations for the RTC, said implementing the system could give authorities an advantage in the event of a shooting when every second counts. “Time is of the essence; it gives us time to identify firearms that are being brandished so they can be notified and get to the scene and save lives,” he said.
Monitoring and preventing mass shootings are issues faced every day in public spaces across the country. Specifically, violent crime on transit systems remains a problem in major metropolitan areas, Report to be released at the end of 2023 The U.S. Department of Transportation has detailed concerns from transportation agency officials across the U.S. about rising violence on their transit systems. According to a database maintained by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Attacks on transportation systems surgeand there are already Public fear intensifies About traffic safety.
Purdue University Northwest is a primarily commuter campus with nearly 7,000 students, with college students of all ages arriving by bus, car and train from urban areas such as Gary and Hammond, Indiana. On average, it takes 5 minutes from the first gunshot to the first 911 call. Brian Miller, the university’s director of public safety, said it takes police an average of 12 minutes to arrive at the school. “We have to reduce that, gunshot detectors and weapons scanners, those are great technologies,” Miller said.
While Nevada and Purdue Northwest officials said there have been no specific incidents that have sparked interest in the new AI detection technology, public safety officials are always concerned about the risk of incidents. Traffic crime statistics in Vegas are low compared to similar transit systems of similar size, but have not been the same since Stephen Paddock killed 58 people in the 2017 Las Vegas Strip mass shooting. Since then, the issue of guns in public places has been a concern.
Eye Zero co-founder Sam Alaimo said mass shootings often begin when a subject enters a complex with a weapon drawn and fully displayed, which gives Eye Zero space to work and overcome the fog of war type. Case. Often, as mass shootings occur, witnesses make multiple 911 calls, only to be given conflicting information.
If ZeroEyes detects someone brandishing a firearm, it alerts an operations center staffed by retired law enforcement veterans who quickly identify whether it is a threat.
Atterbury emphasized that the ZeroEyes system is not designed to detect legal firearms that may be carried in holsters or purses. “It’s strictly about identifying people who are brandishing firearms in a threatening manner,” he said.
Alaimo said the process can take as little as three to five seconds from the moment the image is input, reviewed by staff and then alerted to 911. The system can also often identify the type of weapon, which he added can give law enforcement an advantage.
“We gave them clear access to get in there and stop the killing,” Alaimo said. Their goal was massive destruction. When you see these mass shooters, they usually start outside, brandishing weapons, guns exposed. We built it with mass shootings in mind,” he said.
ZeroEyes launched amid the outbreak. Alaimo said it was designed for school campuses, but with schools closed, the company turned to government buildings, corporate campuses, casinos and manufacturing complexes.
Acoustic sensors compete for the same public safety market
Image-based scanning programs like ZeroEyes, which rely on existing camera mounts, may not be as effective as other artificial intelligence options at detecting weapons, said Wei Dai, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at Purdue University Northwest and director of the Advanced Intelligent Software Laboratory. Dei said that in some cases, acoustic sensors may be more suitable because cameras cannot cover every inch of a building or campus space, but acoustic sensors are 99 percent accurate at detecting gunshots.
“AI technology comes from data; if we don’t capture data, we won’t have successful AI,” Dei said.
However, acoustic sensors have been slow to catch on, largely due to cost issues. Earlier this year, Seattle canceled plans to install acoustic sensors in high-crime areas. But they are being used in some areas. Lafayette, Louisiana, is testing it this year, and Clark County, Nevada, home to Las Vegas, is launching an acoustic pilot program, but not within the transit system.
Purdue Northwestern’s public safety team, which has 14 full-time officers and uses a variety of tools to ensure safety, will consider all technology options going forward, including imaging-based technology like ZeroEyes. “As the technology advances, we’ll be interested in that,” Miller said. “You need to take a layered approach to law enforcement.” No single tool can prevent mass shootings, although imaging, acoustics and other technologies combined with old-fashioned police work provide the best overall approach, he added.
The Las Vegas Transportation System is not the only transportation system in the United States to use ZeroEyes, but it is the first transportation system planned to fully deploy it. Philadelphia SEPTA’s pilot program ended this spring after a year, but Paul Gratton Jr., a former NYPD transportation bureau chief who now serves as a consultant, said Vegas might be a better test case.
“ZeroEyes provides the AI part, but they don’t have the cameras installed. SEPTA found that most of the cameras they have now are not good enough for their AI to do the job. I think Vegas is a better platform; their camera system is better OK,” Gratton said.
Alaimo said ZeroEyes is valuable as long as newer camera networks are already in use.
Even with better cameras, there are many moving parts to implementing the technology, such as what to do once a brandished gun is detected. “What actions can you take and what actions should the responding officer take?” Gratton said.
While image-based AI detection systems are not perfect, they are helpful in a comprehensive security package and are already widely used in intelligence surveillance. Gratton believes technology like ZeroEyes will be more widely adopted, and the cameras are well-suited to traffic systems because they can do a lot of screening. “You can’t subject everyone to TSA-level security,” Gratton said. “Passengers can only take so much.”
“We’ve tested a lot of similar technologies; I do think future technologies will be similar to ZeroEyes,” he said. “These camera systems are a natural progression for policing, which will involve artificial intelligence in the camera systems.”
Cybersecurity consultant Michael Hasse remains skeptical, citing the history of disguised weapons, which are effectively a cottage industry.
“Concealing weapons has been an art form for hundreds of years,” Hasse said. “Systems like this work best when there is no attempt to conceal the weapon, but the simple fact is that there are so many ways to disguise a firearm, and all of these systems rely on technology that can be easily deceived, from all-plastic weapons to simple shape modifications. .
But Atterbury said the risks of not embracing new technology are too great. “You have to be aggressive and proactive; you can’t just sit back and wait for things to happen and then react. Our job is to look around and prevent things from happening. If it saves one person’s life, it’s worth it,” he explain.
