It was 2:30 am when the cameras in Florida State University’s St. Augustine parking garage saw something human eyes would have missed until it was too late: a man dressed in all black, moving through the bottom level of the garage, brandishing a stolen Glock 19. He carelessly pointed the loaded firearm alongside four other individuals. In the seconds it took for that image to register, an AI gun-detection system connected to the cameras flagged the threat, identified the weapon, and sent an alert straight to FSU police before a single shot was fired. Law enforcement swiftly arrived on the scene, identified the perpetrator, and de-escalated the situation thanks to an autonomous machine built to rapidly safeguard civic life.
In public spaces like stadiums, schools, and hospitals, AI technology is protecting against safety threats with a level of speed and precision that simply wasn’t possible before. Rather than relying on a security guard to spot trouble in the moment, these systems are built to flag potential concerns instantly, giving staff an indispensable head start before a situation has the chance to escalate. This often matters most in places where budget constraints make it difficult to hire additional staff.
“Most venues don’t have unlimited security budgets,” said Elliot Broidy, Chairman and CEO of Broidy Capital Holdings, Founder and Managing Partner of LEO Technologies and an investor in security and defense technology. “What AI offers is a way to stretch the staff you already have, so the people on the ground can focus their attention where it’s needed most, instead of trying to watch everything at once.”
This AI screening technology is already in use at some of the most iconic public spaces like Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, or SoFi Stadium and the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles. These venues use AI-based weapons detection to screen fans as they walk in without slowing down the entry lines the way traditional metal detectors often do.
Schools across the U.S. have also started adopting AI-based weapons defense systems, significantly reducing the time between when a weapon is spotted and when it is disarmed. In 2026 alone, there were at least 57 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, underscoring how urgent this issue has become for school districts nationwide. This technology gives schools a way to defend against these threats with far greater precision than a hallway monitor or metal detector ever could. In fact, ZeroEyes, one of the leading companies in this space, was founded in direct response to the 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Lawmakers across several states have pushed legislation that would require all public schools to utilize this technology. Georgia is leading the charge with House Bill 1023, which passed the House and mandates school districts to use traditional metal detectors or AI-based detection platforms or both in all schools. In Colorado, House Bill 24-1123 proposed funding to support schools in purchasing and implementing AI-powered firearm detection software. Similarly, a Tennessee lawmaker and a Virginia House bill proposed grant funding to help districts pilot AI weapons detection technology.
Critics cite repeated false alarms on items like spiral-bound notebooks and water bottles. In October 2025, a detection system mistook a crumpled Doritos bag in a Baltimore County high school student’s hand for a possible firearm, leading to the student being swarmed and handcuffed by police. These incidents can be avoided by decreasing the detectors’ sensitivity, but at the risk of missing weapons like guns and knives. Critics also warn that false alerts can trigger real consequences beyond the initial scare, leading to increased discipline and police contact. Researchers have found that these consequences fall disproportionately on Black and Hispanic students, raising concerns that this technology may exacerbate existing racial disparities in school discipline.
“No technology is perfect,” said Broidy. “As we refine these systems, especially when it comes to the well-being of our children, we need to err on the side of safety and security. I’d rather have a system that occasionally flags a water bottle than one that occasionally misses a gun.”
The healthcare industry, facing significant workplace violence risk, has implemented the use of AI-powered weapons detection to protect staff and secure buildings. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare workers are four to five times as likely to suffer a workplace violence injury compared to other industries. The results of implementing AI-based protection systems have been striking–the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania prevented 123 guns, 72 knives, and 143 other weapons from entering the facility within the first three months of installing AI screening technology.
The shift from reacting to anticipating is the defining idea behind the push to apply AI-based security. It’s a change that goes beyond any single stadium, school, or hospital and speaks to a broader reframing of what security is supposed to accomplish in the first place. “For a long time, security in public spaces meant reacting after something happened. What’s changing now is that these systems are built to act preemptively before things escalate, and that shift changes everything about how safe a space actually is,” said Broidy.
Part of what makes that shift possible, he added, is something no human security team can fully replicate on its own.
“A person can only keep track of so much at once,” said Broidy. “AI doesn’t get tired, and it doesn’t miss the one moment that matters because it was looking somewhere else. That consistency is what makes it valuable across every kind of venue.”
Public spaces are quietly becoming safer as the adoption of AI-based security technology increases. Fans at a game, students walking to class, and patients checking into the emergency room rarely spare time to think about safety in the spaces they already expect to be secure. This sense of security must be preserved for people to continue frequenting these spaces. Critics are right to point out that the technology isn’t perfect, and that false alarms can create real disruptions for the people caught in them. But as detection systems continue to improve, the greater risk still lies in doing too little, not too much. The goal is not to make people feel more guarded. It is to make sure public spaces remain safe for gatherings without security risk.
