Nibert sponsoring bill to test high-tech security software in schools – Roswell Daily Record

“It is our intent to see how it will work with a variety of school districts of different sizes,” Nibert said Monday.

Nibert said that he wants to try to bring more modern technology to these schools after attending a meeting of school district superintendents late last year.

The superintendents were all receptive and willing to be part of the program,” Nibert said.

His bill is based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) gun detection technology by ZeroEyes, which is human-verified and can work with existing security cameras, the Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, company explains on its website.

This product uses video analytics to look for firearms that show up in surveillance video. Humans verify whether the object is a firearm and immediately contact local security and first responders to alert them to what was seen and provide a location.

Nibert has met with several vendors and has been walked through demonstrations.

“The technology is amazing,” Nibert said. The technology provides local authorities with “instant access” to where the person possibly carrying a firearm is at any moment. That heads-up can save time, and possibly lives, ZeroEyes stresses.

School districts in Hobbs, Artesia and Clovis are among districts that have included this type of technology into their security systems. Nibert hopes the pilot program will be successful and, as the state’s resources allow, that it could eventually be used in all New Mexico schools.

He noted that schools in New Mexico are in a variety of stages with their security. Some don’t have cameras and would require additional funding for that purchase. They might need to buy a specific brand of camera as well.

The state’s Public Education Department would contract with a private entity for the software that becomes aware of “visible firearms on school property and alerts school personnel and first responders of that presence,” HB 295 states.

The contractor would be required to develop the software in the United States without the use of any third-party or open-source data. It would also need to be patented by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and qualify as anti-terrorism technology according to U.S. Code Title 6, Section 441, which spells out the designation process.

The software would need to be managed directly by the contractor with an operations center running every day and around the clock with highly trained analysts able to “rapidly communicate potential threats to end-users,” the bill states.

HB 295 also asks that this technology be able to integrate with existing security camera infrastructure and that the contractor provides a sophisticated training database with video frames of firearms “detected in relevant environments across diverse industries.”

The pilot program would be in effect from fiscal years 2024 to 2026.

This bill has been referred to the House Education Committee.

Roswell Independent School District has been in the process of updating its security. Supt. Brian Luck declined Monday to discuss whether the district has been considering the use of this type of technology, however.

A message left by the Daily Record left at Hobbs Municipal Schools for Supt. Gene Strickland wasn’t returned Monday. Hobbs started operating its ZeroEyes system in June 2021, according to the News-Sun.