Phoenix Installs Face Scanners In School
School officials in Phoenix, Arizona, have installed face scanning technology at the Royal Palm Middle School as part of a pilot program that could be extended to every school in the state.
The face scanning machines have been enabled to recognize registered sex offenders and missing children by linking the cameras to databases located at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
The cameras, which draw upon both state and national databases, will be placed at the middle school’s main entrance and in the school office.
A county police officer will be sent to the school if the cameras recognize someone.
Hummingbird Defense Systems manufactures the scanning system in place at the middle school, and it donated the system now being used.
The cameras cost between $3,000 and $5,000 each, but Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has vowed to find funding for a statewide rollout.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Boston Globe (12/15/03); Rushlo, Michelle.