ATLANTA — Four Georgia public schools will participate in a $500,000 pilot program to test high-speed security drones designed to respond to school intruders within five seconds.
The drones, which can travel at 120 mph, are being considered by state lawmakers as a potential supplement to traditional law enforcement.
Channel 2’s Richard Elliot learned that the technology is provided by Campus Guardian Angel, a company based in Austin, Texas.
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These drones are designed to swarm suspects, deploy pepper spray or knock down intruders upon the activation of a silent panic alarm.
The initiative comes as officials look for ways to enhance school safety amid staffing challenges in law enforcement.
Campus Guardian Angel CEO Justin Marston said the effectiveness of small drones against armed individuals in Ukraine served as the catalyst for the service. He said the company operates as a managed service with remote pilots.
“The idea came from seeing how incredibly effective small drones were against people with guns in Ukraine and saying, ‘Hey, if we could make that available as a managed service where we could fly the drone remotely, that would allow us to respond to any school in the nation in five seconds,’” Marston said.
Each participating school would be equipped with 30 to 60 drones.
Pilots located in Austin would take control of the devices the moment a silent panic alarm is pushed. The drones are capable of warning an intruder to surrender or smashing through windows to gain access to a building if necessary.
“We could scream through the corridors quick, look to find them, look to find anybody who’s hurt, who’s bleeding,” Marston said. “But we could take risks that you wouldn’t ask a human being to take.”
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Sen. Matt Dubnik (R-Gainesville) helped secure the $500,000 for the pilot program. He recently viewed a demonstration of the technology to see how it operates in person.
“I’ve seen this on the video, but when you see it online or on YouTube, it’s not quite as intimidating as it is here,” Dubnik said.
He said the drones are intended to assist officers rather than replace them. He noted that the technology could be especially useful in areas struggling to hire enough personnel.
“For those men and women who will stand in the line of fire, if you will,” Dubnik said. “But I think that in areas where we don’t have a pool of candidates to fill those jobs, I think this can certainly be a supplement, but maybe not a replacement.”
Campus Guardian Angel is currently marketing the safety drones to private schools. The company is also encouraging other Georgia public schools to evaluate the technology for their own campuses.
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