Gaggle Introduces Gun Detection Feature to Thwart Acts of School Violence by Finding Images of Guns and Ammunition on School-issued Devices and Platforms

Gaggle is the first and only safety solution for student learning platforms to offer gun detection technology to stop suicides and school shootings.

DALLAS, June 22, 2022 - With 27 school shootings already in 2022, there is an immediate need for heightened school safety and security and Gaggle, the leader in helping K-12 districts manage student safety on school-provided technology, is answering the call by rolling out a new gun detection technology tool as part of its safety management suite.

At a time when school shootings seem ubiquitous, students practice active shooting drills, and communities search for answers on ways of preventing these tragic events, this new capability will empower school districts nationwide to better protect their students from gun violence and help to save young lives.

“No other safety solution for student learning platforms is offering a gun imagery detection tool for K-12 schools,” stated Jeff Patterson, chief executive officer of Gaggle. “This will be a game-changer for school districts as it will allow them to immediately identify students who are posting or sharing gun or weapon-related images on school-issued devices and platforms and to quickly intervene to stop any potential acts of self-harm or violence to others.”

Powered by the latest AI image recognition software available today, as well as Gaggle’s proprietary technology, the new gun detection feature is designed to explicitly search for and detect gun images, ammunition, magazines, and other gun or weapon-related paraphernalia on K-12 school-issued devices and online collaboration platforms.

This provides an added layer of protection for K-12 schools as Gaggle’s safety management solution already scans Google and Microsoft docs, chats, messages, emails, attachments, links and more on K-12 school-issued platforms for words and conversations related to guns, school shootings, self-harm, safety threats and more. A study from the U.S. Secret Service found that 75% of school shooters demonstrated concerning online activity before the incident took place. That’s why it’s imperative for schools to monitor students’ online activity for not only concerning words, but also stand-alone images that could be deemed as concerning.

“We remain committed to saving students’ lives and continuing to innovate and elevate our products offerings and solutions in order to do so. This new gun detection feature will roll out in July - just in time for the 2022 to 2023 academic year - and it will be available to all of our customers at no extra cost,” continued Patterson.

Similar to Gaggle’s current solution, the new gun detection feature will be supported by Gaggle’s Safety Team, and therefore all gun-related images will be screened out by a human moderator and then reviewed by a trained Safety Team member. This helps to avoid false-positives when it comes to concerning images.

Serving more than 5.7 million students at over 1,500 school districts across the United States, Gaggle has been helping K-12 districts keep students safe for more than two decades. Gaggle’s powerful technology, combined with the Gaggle Safety Team, provides real-time analysis and review of students’ use of school-issued online collaboration platforms. For the 2021-2022 academic year, Gaggle flagged 430,876 concerning alerts and saved the lives of 1,548 students. Gaggle complies with HIPAA and FERPA guidelines and was one of the first companies to sign the Student Privacy Pledge.

To learn more about Gaggle, visit gaggle.net.

About Gaggle

Since 1999, Gaggle has been the leader in helping K-12 districts manage student safety on school-provided technology. Using a powerful combination of artificial intelligence and trained safety experts, the safety solution proactively assists districts 24/7/365 in the prevention of student suicide, bullying, inappropriate behaviors, school violence, and other harmful situations. Most importantly, Gaggle continues to help hundreds of districts avoid tragedies and save lives, while also protecting their liability. During the 2021–22 academic year, Gaggle helped districts save the lives of 1,548 students who were planning or actively attempting suicide. For more information, visit www.gaggle.net and follow Gaggle on Twitter at @Gaggle_K12.

MEDIA CONTACT

Ida Yenney for Gaggle idayenney@gmail.com