An artificial intelligence system designed to detect firearms at a Baltimore County high school misidentified a bag of Doritos as a weapon, resulting in police being called on a 16-year-old student.
According to local news station WBAL-TV 11 News, Taki Allen was enjoying his snack outside of Kenwood High School after football practice when the incident occurred. Approximately twenty minutes later, he was approached by multiple police officers armed with firearms.
“It was like eight cop cars that came pulling up for us,” Allen recounted to WBAL-TV. “At first, I didn”t know where they were going until they started walking toward me with guns, talking about, “Get on the ground,” and I was like, “What?””
Officers instructed him to kneel, placed his hands behind his back, and handcuffed him. After a search, they concluded that he was not carrying any weapon. “I was just holding a Doritos bag — it was two hands and one finger out, and they said it looked like a gun,” he explained.
This incident underscores significant issues with the efficacy of current gun detection technologies that are being implemented in schools nationwide. The privacy concerns surrounding surveillance of students using potentially flawed AI systems are also alarming, along with the excessive involvement of law enforcement in educational environments.
In addition to false alerts, gun detection software has shown a lack of effectiveness in preventing actual shootings, as evidenced by a recent incident at Antioch High School in Nashville. Furthermore, such systems have been criticized for perpetuating racial biases, suggesting that students of color, including Allen, may experience discrimination due to AI errors.
The Baltimore County Public Schools implemented gun detection technology from the Virginia-based company Omnilert last year. This system utilizes surveillance cameras to monitor video feeds and notify authorities of suspected weapons in real time. Omnilert”s technology evaluates images from around 7,000 school cameras for any unusual activity.
Blake Mitchell, a spokesperson for Omnilert, stated, “Because the image closely resembled a gun being held, it was verified and forwarded to the Baltimore County Public Schools safety team within seconds for their assessment and decision-making.” He acknowledged that even upon further investigation, the image could still look like a firearm to most observers.
Following the incident, Omnilert referred to the occurrence as a “false positive” but maintained that it served its purpose of enhancing safety through quick human verification. Despite the chaotic experience, Allen reported that he had not received any formal apology from the school. “They just told me it was protocol,” he said, expressing disappointment in the lack of communication.
“I don”t feel like going out there anymore,” Allen remarked. “If I eat another bag of chips or drink something, I feel like they”re going to come again.” His family is understandably calling for greater oversight in the use of such technologies in schools. His grandfather, Lamont Davis, emphasized, “There was no threat for eight guns to be pointed at a 16-year-old.”
