FORT WORTH, Texas — Fort Worth's JPS Hospital is now using artificial intelligence to identify guns on its campus and quicken law enforcement's response to a potential emergency.
The public hospital partnered with ZeroEyes, a company with software trained to scan live security camera video for firearms.
When the system detects a gun, it notifies trained analysts stationed at the company's operations centers. Those workers will confirm the threat and directly notify local law enforcement, providing information about the weapon's location and any victims.
"We're looking to provide situational awareness to law enforcement and first responders so they know how to help coach people who are still there, on-premise, as to what actions to take next," ZeroEyes Vice President of Marketing Erin Acheson told WFAA. "That situational awareness ends up saving a lot of time and usually ends up saving lives."
ZeroEyes claims its technology can notify analysts of a threat's presence as soon as three seconds after a gun is brandished in view of a digital security camera. The software will not flag concealed or holstered guns, Acheson said.
The platform also aims to reduce false alarms and mitigate disturbances caused by hoax threats.
"Any incident of gun violence is of great concern," JPS Police Chief and Executive Director of Public Safety Randell Hayen Wednesday told WFAA. "Having the ZeroEyes system provides our on-site police and security teams an additional tool to aid in their quick response."
To comply with health care privacy laws, ZeroEyes' analysts will not have access to live feeds from hospital security cameras. Instead, they are notified of detected threats on a single monitor inside the 24-hour command centers.
ZeroEyes is the only AI-based gun detection video analytics platform that holds the U.S. Department of Homeland Security SAFETY Act Designation, according to a press release announcing the program's implementation at JPS.
The hospital added the security layer about 15 months after a deadly shooting inside Methodist Dallas Medical Center, though Hayen stopped short of linking JPS Hospital's move to that incident. Two people died in the October 2022 shooting, including nurse Annette Flowers.
Her daughters, Kelly and Sarah, have since called attention on social media to hospital security issues.
"Enough is enough," Kelly Flowers told WFAA Wednesday. "Whether it's changing all the laws, changing all the security systems or changing something - it needs to happen."
The pair said they are encouraged by JPS Hospital's implementation of the ZeroEyes platform.
"It's a great step in the right direction, but I don't think it's an endpoint," Sarah Flowers said. "In combination with additional measures, it could likely save lives."