RICHMOND, Ky. (WKYT) – The Blue Grass Army Depot is testing a new artificial intelligence tool that can help detect various threats. It says it’s the first Department of Defense organization to do this.
The surveillance software uses cameras and drones to detect intruders and active shooters.
“We want to make sure we’re safe, secure, have straight communication, and know how to defeat any threat for the Department of Defense at any time,” said Chris Willoughby, electronic security systems manager at Blue Grass Army Depot.
The artificial intelligence surveillance software is called Scylla. By syncing it up with any existing camera, the software can catch a bad actor in real-time. It then alerts security personnel, who can stop the threat before it escalates.
“The Department of Defense’s standard and the Army standard is 96% probability detection. Any time you move into an area we don’t want you to be, we want that to detect,” said Willoughby.
This means it won’t send nuisance alerts when an animal passes, or a leaf blows in the wind.
“We want to keep that confidence rate. We want our operators to be vigilant to be able to see what’s happening and to be able to alert when they need that effort,” said Willoughby.
Willoughby says they’ve primarily used Scylla to detect intruders, guns and facial recognition. He says because it’s so multifaceted they’ve even introduced it to school systems.
“We can pick up guns on a 4K camera with some of the testing we’ve done at 1,000 feet away,” said Willoughby.
In one test, Scylla detected an intruder with a gun climbing a water tower that was one mile away from a camera.
“Can you imagine hitting an active shooter or an intruder from a camera on a school 1,000 feet away? Now, granted, you have to see it, but 80%-85% of active shooters show the gun before they get to the building,” said Willoughby.
In another demonstration, the cameras immediately detected guns, sounded off an alarm, and captured facial recognition.
Willoughby says this helps security operators who are tasked with watching dozens of cameras and identifying any threat—something very difficult to do. He says one of the things he loves about it is what it can do for schools.
“I’m partial to the Department of Defense, but my 5-year-old and 2-year-old can’t say enough about how much it makes me feel better that they may be safe in their school,” Willoughby said.
Willoughby says they will continue to test it and enhance its capabilities for the years to come.
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