{"id":9206,"date":"2026-01-20T21:47:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/?p=9206"},"modified":"2026-01-20T21:47:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:47:53","slug":"tupd-explores-ai-technology-to-improve-campus-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/2026\/01\/20\/tupd-explores-ai-technology-to-improve-campus-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"TUPD explores AI technology to improve campus safety"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION<\/a>) \u2014 The Troy University Police Department<\/a> (TUPD) is testing out new ways artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to keep students safe.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the break, TUPD Chief George Beaudry and his staff have been running tests with new software, Coram AI. Coram AI<\/a> provides software that integrates with TUPD\u2019s Avigilon camera system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose of the tests is to see if the software can detect guns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCurrently, we\u2019re testing several cameras at various locations throughout campus,\u201d Beaudry said. \u201cAs long as it\u2019s working properly, if the system recognizes what it believes to be a firearm, it\u2019s going to generate a message that is sent to us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce we go fully online, we will have all our police officers as well as supervisory staff from the city police department will get the alert. If confirmed by us, the appropriate response to the alert will be made.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Jim Locke is the Executive Director of the Center for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education at\u00a0the\u00a0Sorrell College of Business<\/a>.\u00a0Locke applauds Beaudry\u2019s efforts to use AI in security and says human verification is crucial.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAFETY x AI: TUPD identifies person behind AI-generated dorm fire photo<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSchool shooters generally walk in with their guns out,\u201d Locke said. \u201cIn those cases, you would want the AI in the camera to immediately recognize the firearm, even if it\u2019s a false positive. If someone pulls out something that looks like a gun, people need to be warned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The AI has to be calibrated correctly for whatever the application is. A human in the loop then needs to verify what the AI is flagging and decide if there is truly a threat.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leigh Taylor, an Enterprise, Alabama native and junior music education major, is skeptical of AI being used in surveillance.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don’t think that AI is a good thing in general,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cI think it’s way too primitive for it to be used to detect guns. Even in this scenario, there is human verification, but I\u2019m still hesitant to say I\u2019m comfortable with it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maximus DeMarco, a junior interdisciplinary major from Montgomery, Alabama, also has concerns about using AI in the university\u2019s cameras. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s sketchy, I am not optimistic about this,\u201d DeMarco said. \u201cI think there is too much reliance on AI in many regards and it\u2019s still a developing technology. I don\u2019t think AI should be implemented into something security. I think traditional methods of security are the move.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CHECK OUT LAST SEMESTER’S TOP STORIES FROM TUPD<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite student skepticism about AI being used to identify guns, Beaudry has faith in the software and believes it will help keep the campus safe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are cautiously optimistic based on early testing,\u201d Beaudry said. \u201cRight now, we are working with four cameras and seeing a 90 percent effective rate. My goal is to work on getting the administration to provide the funds so we can expand. It\u2019s all about licenses and how many you want to buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the license we have, we will at least have these cameras for 4 years. In that time, we will be able to see if this system is a success or a failure. Doing the trial-run that we are doing right now gives us the opportunity to show the administration the benefits of this system.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beaudry expects the software to start being used in late January. Students with concerns or questions can call TUPD at (334) 670-3215. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) \u2014 The Troy University Police Department (TUPD) is testing out new ways artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to keep students safe.  <\/p>\n

Over the break, TUPD Chief George Beaudry and his staff have been running tests with new software, Coram AI. Coram AI provides software that integrates with TUPD\u2019s Avigilon camera system. <\/p>\n

The…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":9230,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1127],"tags":[1896,1895,1142,2777,1090,2394],"topics":[17],"class_list":["post-9206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-news","tag-troy-university-ai","tag-troy-university-artificial-intelligence","tag-troy-university-police-department","tag-troy-university-security","tag-tupd","tag-tupd-chief-george-beaudry","topics-troy-campus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9206"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9229,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9206\/revisions\/9229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9206"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=9206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}