BATON ROUGE, La. – It’s called ZeroEyes, an artificial intelligence gun detection software. It alerts law enforcement of potential threats, deters crimes, and adds more eyes throughout the community.
Making Baton Rouge safer is the goal the Law Enforcement Criminal Justice Foundation is working on.
When we hear the names Devin Page Jr. and Allie Rice, we aren’t solely hearing the names of the young lives fallen victim to gun violence, but we hear their names along with actions that contribute to improving public safety, said Alex Byo with Thirty-Three Strategies.
Those actions include adding an AI gun detection software, called ZeroEyes, to existing security cameras around the parish.
It’s an identification tool for law enforcement in the event that someone is walking with a long gun or brandishing a pistol, said Chairman of BR Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Foundation Clay Young.
Here’s how it works. Once a camera detects a gun, staff at an alert center verify the weapon and notify law enforcement within five seconds. The software has been live in almost 50 cameras around the parish for a month now. More will continue to be added through the Page/Rice Public Safety Initiative.
We’ve installed 11 monitored safety cameras at local hotels and popular tourist attractions, and we look forward to installing many more, said Jill Kidder, President and CEO of Visit Baton Rouge.
In addition to ZeroEyes, the Baton Rouge Police Department now has access to 200 license plate readers and 200 crime cameras strategically placed throughout the city. Law enforcement said installing more cameras lets them have more eyes throughout the community without having to add more officers or deputies.
They help us to be more efficient and effective with our patrols and with our investigations, said Baton Rouge Police Department’s Deputy Chief Neal Noel.
As crime changes and evolves, we have to do the same with our approach to safety, said East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux. Not only are cameras a crime deterrent, but they are also unbiased and unchanging eyewitnesses.
Community officials say although this is a step in the right direction, they’re asking more neighborhoods and businesses to get involved too.
This is about enforcement, but we can’t forget investment because we will never arrest our way out of what’s going on, said Young.
Let’s expand the numbers and see just how many silos we can tear down in Baton Rouge and get the community working together, said Byo.
