Securing the nation’s schools has become paramount in recent years, and new technology like artificial intelligence is helping assist police officials in school districts sift through troves of data to pinpoint potential threats. Corpus Christi (Texas) Independent School District Police Chief Kirby Warnke recently spoke with OFFICER Magazine about how his agency uses the AI-powered gun detection solution ZeroEyes to keep students and staff safe.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
In what way has your agency invested in new technology?
We’ve been using technology for as long as the department has existed (1993). We grow as technology grows. We were early adopters of Raptor, silent alert systems and panic systems before they were mandated. It’s natural progression to go to something like ZeroEyes. It’s a force multiplier. Someone’s watching your back when you can’t. Technology is integral in keeping our kids safe.
This article appeared in the January/February issue of OFFICER Magazine. Click Here to subscribe to OFFICER Magazine.
How has the software helped recognize potential threats?
We’ve had nine incidents in the last 14 months of being “swatted.” A false 911 is called in alleging an active shooter. First responders report. ZeroEyes sends me an e-mail off to the side saying: “We were activated or alerted to the presence of firearms in your campus, but we would discern that it wasn’t necessary for us to called 911 because 911 was already present.” The ability to have a human being look at that, decipher that and decide we do need to send someone, or we don’t is really important. There was a big issue right after COVID with kids playing with airsoft guns around schools. There were multiple times where ZeroEyes determined that it was not a threat and let us know offline. They don’t need to activate emergency services because they can determine it’s a toy. In conjunction with ZeroEyes and just good police work on the ground, the number of airsoft incidents after school hours have diminished.
How was your agency introduced to ZeroEyes?
About three years ago, Darrell Dubuque (Senior Operations Manager/Coordinator—Security/Fire/Life Safety for CCISD) saw it at a trade show, and when he came back he said, “Hey, I want to try this thing out.” He showed it to me and I was wowed. I said, “You know what, I think it’s something we should have.” We found money in the budget and visited with ZeroEyes. We came up with a plan to get us engaged and went from there.
What was the training like for your staff?
ZeroEyes is used kind of behind the scenes by me and my team. It’s myself and my security personnel who see it on the backend; so it’s really not used day-by-day for the line officers. So, for my command staff, myself, we’ll have access to the system. My dispatch core, they have access to it as well. For that small cadre involved, the training wasn’t too difficult.
Was it difficult to get public buy-in of AI?
We have a very, very good community down here in Corpus Christi. They support law enforcement because we’ve earned it. I’ve had no pushback about it. In fact, people are encouraged to know that we’re doing everything we can to keep the students, staff and visitors safe when they come to the Corpus Christi ISD. They like to know that we’re keeping our kids safe. We have precious cargo on board, so we do everything we can to keep them safe. We get very strong support from our community.
What advice would you give other agencies?
If you never try anything, you’ll never determine whether it’s going to work for you or not. For us, we like it. It’s a kind of overwatch, our own digital Saint Michael. Always try something, anything that can help give you that edge. If you can work it into your budget, give it a try. If it doesn’t work for you, try something else. But don’t just sit there and stagnate and not continue to try something.
Listen to the full interview at officer.com/53083361
Paul Peluso | Editor
Paul Peluso is the Managing Editor of OFFICER Magazine and has been with the Officer Media Group since 2006. He began as an Associate Editor, writing and editing content for Officer.com. Previously, Paul worked as a reporter for several newspapers in the suburbs of Baltimore, MD.
