Artificial intelligence technology will review Loudoun County school security camera footage to monitor for weapons or fights — a step the Northern Virginia district said will result in more coverage and boost safety.
The division will use software from VOLT AI, which will scan camera footage for possible issues, according to Dan Adams, the district’s public information officer. It piloted the software in high schools and is now planning to use it in elementary and middle schools, too.
The tech, Adams said, ensures there will always be eyes on what’s happening across school buildings, even when school staff aren’t able to watch footage in real time.
The Washington Post first reported the school district’s plan.
“It’s asking a lot to ask people to have eyeballs on it every second of every day,” Adams told WTOP. “This looked like a great way to, leveraging the new, emerging AI technology, be able to give that quicker response, so that we can get eyes on potentially developing dangerous situations.”
The software from the Bethesda-based company functions as an alert system. It can scan for students congregating in certain areas, and pick up on fights or assaults and possibly weapons, Adams said.
If it identifies something that appears to be concerning, it’ll alert staff members “so that they can then put eyes on and then respond appropriately to whatever the incident may be,” Adams said.
The tech will monitor cameras in common areas, such as hallways, building entrances and exits. Adams said there aren’t any cameras in private areas such as bathrooms.
The company’s software won’t replace “the logical decision-making process of a human being,” Adams said, adding it’ll ultimately be a human being that “decides what the situation is and how to respond.”
For the first five years, the district will be using a year-to-year contract with the company. The first year costs about $1.1 million, Adams said.
In a statement, VOLT AI co-founder Dmitry Sokolowski said the decision to use the tech in schools “reinforces a pattern we’re seeing coast-to-coast: large public institutions want AI that is both accurate and easy to operationalize. We’re thrilled to expand our footprint in Virginia and add LCPS to the growing community of districts quietly protecting their campuses with VOLT.”
In a news release, the company said it’s working with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s office on ways to advance school safety.
A spokesman for Moore said in a statement that the governor is excited about a partnership between Google and the University System of Maryland, and the governor “strongly supports the effort to expand AI training opportunities for Maryland students.”
The new system is part of a series of changes Loudoun schools are making to address safety. This fall, anyone who wants to bring a bag into a varsity football game will have to use a clear one, Adams said, which is a policy in place in many professional sports venues.
They’re also planning to pilot metal detectors at some sporting events next year, he said.
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