AI-Powered Security Cameras In Colorado Schools

Nearly 400 AI-powered cameras are now operational across the Cheyenne Mountain School District in Colorado Springs, according to The Denver Post (TDP). These cameras, equipped with facial-recognition technology, allow school officials to track and identify individuals, sparking debates around privacy and security in schools.

The AI-enabled cameras can detect and track people based on physical characteristics or a photo uploaded into the system, notes TDP. School administrators can, for instance, input a picture of a “person of interest,” and the system will notify them when that individual is captured on camera, providing relevant footage in real time.

The cameras can also locate individuals by description, notes TDP. For example, a principal could search for a student wearing a red shirt and yellow backpack, and the AI system would locate any matching individuals within seconds.

“There are some interesting cases of how it can be used to quickly find people in an emergency and enhance building security in an emergency,” said Colorado state Sen. Chris Hansen, who sponsored legislation creating a task force to study the governance of AI in schools.

“We need to balance that for potential misuses and overly zealous surveillance. That’s what we’ve been grappling with,” he added, as reported by TDP.

A few Colorado school districts and higher education institutions have adopted AI surveillance technologies to improve student safety. However, a statewide moratorium has blocked most schools from doing the same, though this could change when the ban ends next summer, said TDP.

At the same time, state legislators and experts are debating how best to regulate AI usage in schools, balancing security with concerns about privacy, and the ethics of using AI to monitor children.

TDP notes that last month, Verkada, a California-based security technologies company, held a conference in Denver to showcase its products, which include AI cameras, wireless lockdown systems, and panic buttons.

Representatives from Cheyenne Mountain School District and Aims Community College, both current users of Verkada’s technologies, attended the event to discuss how these tools have improved campus security, said TDP.

Greg Miller, executive director of technology for the Cheyenne Mountain district, highlighted the system’s efficiency:

“It’s been critical in multiple incidents where we can click on a face and know which door that child exited so they can find them and safely make sure they aren’t harming themselves. We can do that in under 30 seconds,” as reported by TDP.

Despite the technology’s potential benefits, there are concerns about its accuracy and impact on marginalized students. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado, part of the legislative AI task force, remains skeptical, notes TDP.

“We don’t think that the potential benefits — and there’s not a whole lot of data to prove those exist — outweigh the harms,” said Anaya Robinson, senior policy strategist at the ACLU of Colorado, as reported by TDP.

As the 2025 legislative session approaches, Colorado lawmakers are expected to propose new safeguards to ensure AI technologies in schools are used responsibly.