ZeroEyes analyst Mario Hernandez demonstrates the use of artificial intelligence with surveillance cameras to identify visible guns at the company's operations center, Friday, May 10, 2024, in Conshohocken, Pa.
ZeroEyes also appears to be the only firm qualified for state firearms detection programs under laws enacted last year in Michigan and Utah, bills passed earlier this year in Florida and Iowa and legislation proposed in Colorado, Louisiana and Wisconsin. Stoddard is chairperson of the newly launched National Council of School Safety Directors, which formed to set standards for school safety officials and push back against vendors who are increasingly pitching particular products to lawmakers.
ZeroEyes is not the only company using surveillance systems with artificial intelligence to spot guns. One competitor, Omnilert, pivoted from emergency alert systems to firearms detection several years ago and also offers around-the-clock monitoring centers to quickly review AI-detected guns and pass alerts onto local officials.
In Iowa, legislation requiring schools to install firearms detection software was amended to give companies providing the technology until July 1, 2025, to receive federal designation as an anti-terrorism technology. But Democratic state Rep. Ross Wilburn said that designation was originally intended as an incentive for companies to develop technology.
House K-12 Budget Committee Chair Kristey Williams, a Republican, vigorously defended that provision. She argued during a negotiating meeting with senators that because of student safety, the state couldn't afford the delays of a standard bidding process. She also touted the company’s technology as unique.The US$5 million appropriation won't cover every school, but Thomas said the amount could later increase once people see how well ZeroEyes technology works.
Amid significant criticism from advocates, Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities Minister Kamal Khera is defending her government's long-promised, newly unveiled Canada Disability Benefit, calling the funds an "initial step," but without laying out a timeline for future expansion of the program.
A Newfoundlander's lifelong love of cartooning has helped forge Heavy Sweater Comics, the province's newest dedicated comic book publisher.With carriers' flight volumes above the 60th parallel hovering below pre-pandemic levels, Canadian North’s first Inuk CEO now bears the task of balancing those financial and logistical challenges with the needs of communities for which she feels a deep affinity.Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.
Montreal police are investigating a suspicious death in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough after a man's body was discovered on Sunday morning.Residents urged to stay away or stay ready as wildfire burns out of control in Grande Prairie county Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating after a Sault Ste. Marie Police Service officer shot a 37-year-old man in the city’s west end on Saturday night.Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.