The safest place to stop a threat is the parking lot, not the front door. Steadfast puts AI weapon detection on your lot and entrance cameras and plate recognition on your drives, then has a trained analyst verify every alert in seconds so lockdown and 911 start while there's still distance between the threat and your students.
Not every threat comes from someone already flagged. A car that has never been seen before won't trip a hotlist, but a visible rifle trips AI weapon detection the moment it leaves the vehicle. That puts the alert, the lockdown, and the 911 call ahead of the threat instead of behind it.
A car pulls into the east lot. The plate is read and logged. It isn't on any hotlist, so there's no alert. That's normal.
The driver steps out carrying a rifle. AI weapon detection flags it on the parking-lot camera.
A Steadfast analyst confirms the weapon on live video. Not a false alarm.
Sirens sound across the lot, and the analyst gives live commands over the parking-lot speakers: police are on the way.
Exterior doors lock. The front office, SRO, and principal get an alert with a photo and location.
911 gets a verified report: the weapon, a description, the vehicle and plate, and direction of travel.
Analysts follow the person camera to camera and send live video to responding units.
Officers arrive and the analyst guides them to the east lot with the person's last known location.
The person is detained in the parking lot. No one is hurt, and nobody got through the front door.
The lockdown is lifted. Families are notified and the district gets a full incident report with video.
Illustrative scenario. AI weapon detection identifies firearms visible to a camera; it cannot see concealed weapons. Timing depends on camera placement, configuration, and your district's approved response plan.
AI weapon detection is one strong layer, not a force field. We'd rather you hear the limits from us than discover them later.
Weapon detection is a specialist add-on on supported cameras. Detection depends on camera model, placement, lighting, and configuration, which we plan during your campus assessment.
Seeing a threat is only half the job. Steadfast analysts can speak directly to a trespasser or threat through speakers on your lots, fields, and entrances, and set off sirens and strobes, so the person knows they've been seen and help is coming, while there's still distance between them and your students.
A trained analyst gives clear commands over the campus speakers: you're on camera, leave the property, police are on the way.
Loud sirens and flashing strobes at the lot, the field, or across campus draw attention and tell everyone nearby to act.
After hours, AI can play a recorded warning the moment someone climbs a fence or lingers by a door, before an analyst even picks up the mic.
Built on 120 dB horn speakers and alarm sirens from Verkada and Ubiquiti UniFi. When talk-down and sirens are used follows your district's approved response plan.
AI plate readers at your entrances and pickup lanes log every vehicle and alert on plates your district flags: a parent under a protective or custody order, a vehicle tied to a threat, or a car seen lingering again and again. A plate that isn't on any list simply gets logged.
Your district decides which plates are flagged and why, and can remove them at any time. No general tracking of families or staff.
A flagged plate in the car line alerts the front office and SRO with the lane and vehicle, so the student stays inside.
Plate reads are kept only as long as your policy says, then deleted. Every search is logged for audit.
Every alert follows the same path: the AI or a sensor notices, an analyst confirms, and the right people get what they need to act.
*Weapon detection is a specialist add-on on supported cameras. Watchlist matching is optional and limited to people your district approves. Times are examples.
Alerts reach an analyst within seconds; about five seconds from detection to review is typical. Actual timing depends on camera placement, configuration, and your district's approved response plan, which we set up together.
Your playbook decides who gets called. Analysts can relay verified details to 911, including a description, location, vehicle, plate, and direction of travel. Where deployed and authorized, integrations can support CAD, dispatch, and real-time crime center workflows; specifics depend on the agency and platform.
Yes. Analysts can speak directly to someone on campus through speakers on your lots, fields, and entrances, and set off sirens and strobes. After hours, AI can play an automated warning the moment someone climbs a fence or lingers by a door. When each is used follows your district's approved response plan.
No. AI weapon detection identifies firearms that are visible to a camera, such as a rifle carried across a parking lot. It cannot see weapons under clothing or in bags. That's why Steadfast layers it with plate recognition, entry controls, panic buttons, and trained people.
Plate readers at entrances and pickup lanes log vehicles and alert only on plates your district flags, such as a vehicle tied to a protective or custody order. Plates that aren't on a list are simply logged and deleted on your retention schedule.
Every AI alert is reviewed by a trained analyst on live video before anyone is dispatched or a lockdown is triggered, so staff respond to real events, not shadows or umbrellas.
Our free guide to proactive campus safety, with a letter from our founders, stories from a Steadfast campus, and tools you can use with your team this week.
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