Gaggle’s New Gun Detection for K-12 Schools Finds 195 Disturbing Images During 5 Weeks this Summer

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

DALLAS, TX, September 27, 2022—Gaggle’s new gun detection technology, which was rolled out to its K-12 school district partners in late July, identified gun-related images resulting in 195 warnings including eight so serious that they warranted an emergency call to the school district.

“I knew this was an important new tool to keep schools safe, but I was shocked to see how quickly we found disturbing pictures and videos that included guns,” said Jeff Patterson, CEO of Gaggle. 

One very disturbing video starts with a teenage boy on the ground with his hands tied.  The camera briefly shows a hand with a gun held over the student.  The student is then kicked repeatedly by other teens and told not to snitch on people anymore. 

The images below speak for themselves.

These images with faces are artistic replicas of the scenes with completely altered student faces.

“We want to stop potential acts of suicide and school shootings before they occur so schools can create a safe environment for our children,” said Jeff Patterson.

Gaggle’s new AI gun detection model is designed to search for and detect gun images on school-provided technology.

The gun detection feature is supported by Gaggle’s Safety Team. All gun-related images are screened by two human moderators and reviewed by a trained Safety Team member. This eliminates false positives when it comes to concerning images.

Serving more than 5.8 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 saw a 152% increase from the prior school year for serious incidents involving violence. 

To learn more about Gaggle’s gun detection technology, 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 2021-2022 academic year, Gaggle helped districts save the lives of 1,562 students who were planning or actively attempting suicide. For more information, visit www.gaggle.net and follow Gaggle on Twitter at @Gaggle_K12.

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