Las Vegas transit system first in US to fully deploy AI scanner to detect weapons

The next time you visit Vegas, an extra pair of eyes will be watching you if you decide to board the local transportation system.

As part of a $33 million, multi-year upgrade to bolster its security, the Southern Nevada Regional Transportation Commission is set to add system-wide AI from gun detection software vendor ZeroEyes that scans passengers on its more than 400 buses to try to identify anyone brandishing a firearm.

Tom Atteberry, RTC’s director of safety and security operations, said every second counts in a shooting situation, and implementing the system could give authorities an advantage. “Time is of the essence; it gives us time to identify a firearm being brandished, so they can be notified and get to the scene to save lives,” he said.

Monitoring and preventing mass shootings is a daily challenge that public places across the country face. Violent crime on public transit systems, in particular, remains a problem in major metropolitan areas. A report released in late 2023 by the Department of Transportation details the concerns of U.S. transit officials about rising violence on their transit systems. Assaults on transit systems have increased, and public fears about transportation safety have grown, according to a database maintained by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Purdue University Northwest, a commuter campus, is home to nearly 7,000 students. Students of all ages arrive from urban areas like Gary and Hammond, Indiana, by bus, car and train. On average, it takes five minutes from the first gunshot to the first 911 call. It takes an average of 12 minutes before police can deploy “boots on the ground” at a school, said Brian Miller, the university’s director of public safety, citing research on response times to mass shootings. “We need to reduce that time, and gunshot detectors and gun scanners are all good technologies,” Miller said.

Although Nevada and Purdue University Northwest officials said no specific incidents have sparked interest in new AI-powered detection technology, the potential for one is always on the minds of public safety officials. Las Vegas’ transit crime statistics are low compared to similar transit systems of its size, but the issue of guns in public places has been at the forefront since Stephen Paddock killed 58 people on the Strip in a 2017 mass shooting.

A mass shooting often begins with a subject entering a compound with a weapon drawn, fully deployed, which gives ZeroEyes the space to work through a fog-of-war situation, according to Sam Alaimo, co-founder of Zero Eyes. Typically, when a mass shooting occurs, multiple witnesses call 911, all giving conflicting information.

If ZeroEyes detects a weapon being brandished, it alerts an operations center staffed by law enforcement veterans, who quickly identify whether it is a threat.

Atteberry stressed that the ZeroEyes system is not designed to detect legal firearms that might be in a holster or purse. “It’s only designed to identify someone brandishing a firearm in a threatening manner,” he said.

The process from the time an image comes in, is verified by their staff, to the time 911 is alerted, can take between three and five seconds, Alaimo said. The system can usually also identify the type of weapon, which he added can give law enforcement an advantage.

“We’re giving them the visibility to step in and stop the killings,” Alaimo said. “Their goal is to cause mass harm. When you see these mass murderers, they usually start outside, brandishing their weapons, the weapon is exposed. We designed this project with mass murderers in mind,” he said.

ZeroEyes launched as the pandemic took hold. It was designed for school campuses, Alaimo said, but when schools closed, the company pivoted to government buildings, corporate campuses, casinos and manufacturing complexes.

Acoustic sensors competing for the same public safety market

Wei Dai, an assistant professor in Purdue Northwest’s computer science department and director of the Advanced Intelligence Software Lab, says image-based scanning programs like ZeroEyes, which rely on existing camera mounts, may not be as effective as other AI options at detecting weapons. Dei says acoustic sensors may be more suitable in some cases because cameras can’t cover every square inch of a building or campus space, but sound sensors detect a gunshot with 99 percent accuracy.

“AI technology comes from data; if we don’t capture the data, there is no successful AI,” Dei said.

But acoustic sensors have been slow to catch on, largely because of their cost. Earlier this year, Seattle scrapped a plan to install acoustic sensors in high-crime areas. But they are being used in some areas. Lafayette, Louisiana, is testing them this year, and Clark County, Nevada, where Las Vegas is located, is also launching an acoustic pilot program, but not in the transit system.

Purdue University Northwest’s public safety team, which has 14 full-time officers and uses a variety of tools to keep itself safe, will be looking at all technology options in the future, including image-based technologies like ZeroEyes. “As technology advances, that’s something we’d be interested in,” Miller said. “You need a layered approach to law enforcement.” He added that while images, acoustics and other technologies, combined with old-fashioned policing, provide the best holistic approach, there is no single tool to prevent mass shootings.

Las Vegas’ transit system isn’t the only one in the country using ZeroEyes, but it is the first to plan a full rollout. A pilot program with Philadelphia’s SEPTA ended this spring after a year, but Paul Gratton Jr., a former NYPD supervisor in the transportation bureau who is now a consultant, believes Vegas might be a better test case.

“ZeroEyes provides the AI ​​part, but they don’t install their cameras. SEPTA found that most of their existing cameras weren’t of a good enough quality for their AI to do the job. I think Vegas is a much better platform; their camera system is better,” Gratton said.

Alaimo says ZeroEyes is useful anywhere a newer camera network is already in use.

Even with better cameras, there are many elements to implementing the technology, such as what to do when a weapon is detected. “What steps can you take and what steps should responding officers take?” Gratton asked.

Image-based AI detection systems aren’t perfect, but they’re useful as part of a comprehensive security suite and are already widely used in intelligence surveillance. Gratton believes technologies like ZeroEyes will see much wider adoption, and the cameras are well-suited to transit systems because they can perform high-volume screening. “You can’t put everyone through a TSA-level security screening,” Gratton said. “Passengers aren’t going to accept that much screening.”

“We’ve tested a lot of similar technologies. I think the technology of the future will be similar to ZeroEyes,” he said. “These camera systems are the natural progression of police departments involving AI in camera systems.”

Cybersecurity consultant Michael Hasse remains skeptical, citing the history of weapon camouflage, which is practically a cottage industry.

“Concealed weapons have been an art form for hundreds of years,” Hasse said. “Systems like this work best when there’s been no attempt to conceal the weapon, but the fact is there are too many ways to conceal a weapon, and all of these systems rely on technology that can be trivially spoofed, from all-plastic weapons to simple shape modifications.”

But Atteberry believes the stakes are too high not to embrace new technologies. “You have to be progressive and proactive. You can’t just wait for something to happen and then react. Our job is to look around and prevent something from happening. If it saves one life, it’s cost-effective,” he said.