Temple deploys AI gun detection system

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Temple University launched a new detection system to help reduce gun violence.

The Philadelphia campus will be the first in the tri-state region to deploy ZeroEyes, an artificial intelligence system.

If a weapon is detected through cameras, an alert is sent to the ZeroEyes security operation center within seconds. University police would then be notified and officers would be dispatched to the weapon’s location.

The university will use its 150 existing cameras to keep an eye on public spaces with high pedestrian traffic.

Vice President of Public Safety and Police Chief Jennifer Griffin told WHYY News the university has tested out the images to make sure they are at the highest resolution standards.

“If kids are out playing in the street and there’s a water gun, the security operations center, the analyst could look at that and say, ‘Oh, it’s a water gun,’ or they might say it’s unknown,” Griffin said. “We’re still going to send the police out. We’re going to send a police officer to make sure that everything’s okay.”

Griffin said campus police will also receive a text message containing the alert information and a picture, ensuring multiple layers of notification are integrated into the communications system.

“One of the things we did before we even installed the technology is we did a full audit every year of all of our 1,500 cameras, and then they’re monitored on a daily basis to make sure that they’re working,” Griffin said.

SEPTA launched a similar technology in 2022 to help reduce gun violence.

“As we’ve seen nationwide, there’s been gun violence throughout the country,” Griffin said. “When we look at FBI data, we know that public spaces are the number one space for somebody to present a gun for mass shooting. And then you have commercial areas and then educational facilities.”

Public Safety Director for Temple Student Government Tanner Wood believes the new technology will be an investment that will hopefully save lives.

“Whenever you’re dealing with a shooting or someone with a gun, you know, when you can save seconds on that clock and get officers there faster, that’s always a bonus,” Wood said.

Wood said he hasn’t experienced gun violence firsthand, but he knows others who have and are still traumatized by it.

“It’s tragic and it’s very sad,” Tanner said. “Temple has dealt with, unfortunately, incidents of shootings, and gun violence is a very pervasive issue in Philadelphia as a whole as it is in America.”

He said it’s not just about hiring more officers or another detective. It’s also looking at technology the university can use.

The ZeroEyes Operation Center will be manned 24 hours every day of the year.