PEORIA, Ill. (25 News) – Peoria Public Schools will be buying metal detectors using AI to find weapons after the school board Monday night approved the purchase.
PPS is buying eight CEIA OpenGate AI Weapons Detection systems for $173,650, paid for with grant money. The freestanding pillars will be used at the district’s three high schools: Peoria, Manual, and Richwoods.
25 News reports the school board took action without any discussion, and it was part of the consent agenda of several items that were unanimously approved.
Until now, the idea of metal detectors was controversial, with the board voting against renting an X-ray system and other equipment from Evolv for $121,000 a year.
Peoria Public Schools is ordering the metal detectors after a pair of shootings in August outside Manual High School, including an incident in which a 15-year-old suspended student fired multiple rounds, damaging the school building.
Two days earlier, a 15-year-old girl was hospitalized with a graze wound after a shooting less than two blocks from Manual.
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