Rowley, Mass. — Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), the security industry’s leading gunshot detection solutions provider, has partnered with a Texas movie theater company, which has installed the Guardian Indoor Active Shooter Detection System in its chain of multi-cinema movie theaters to alert building occupants and law enforcement to shooting incidents in their facilities.
The customer was concerned about false alerts in their cinemas due to gunshot and explosions that regularly appear in movies. Once the installation was complete, SDS engineers worked with the customer’s certified integrator to monitor the system’s performance for 1 month. The gunshot detection system performed with 100% accuracy during a full schedule of sold-out features that included action movies with gunfire and explosions. Furthermore, Guardian did not produce a single false alert.
“We are extremely pleased with the system’s performance,” says the movie chain’s director of security. “Our team looked at acoustic-only, pressure wave and other gunshot detection systems and we were convinced that they would not work properly in the theater environment. As an organization we can’t afford to worry about a system that would report to shots fired on-screen or create crowd panic over false alerts.”
In 2018 the customer implemented security measures and policies that included placing a size limit on bags and packages that moviegoers could bring into the building. Shooting incidents are usually perpetrated by well-prepared, extremely determined individuals. Understanding this, the customer chose to add gunshot detection as a part of its layered approach to mitigating risks associated with these threats.
SDS has been in the business of gunshot detection for over 15 years and brought indoor gunshot detection to the market in 2013 with the Guardian Indoor Active Shooter Detection System. Guardian is a system of sensors that accurately and immediately detect gunshots while providing reliable identification of the shooter’s location. The system simultaneously communicates incident details to those exposed to the threat and alerts law enforcement. Sensors use advanced acoustic detection algorithms to detect the acoustic signature of gunfire, with a secondary validation in the form of infrared flash detection sensors to reduce false alerts.
“Our zero-false alert history is important to all our customers, and especially those in the entertainment industry,” says Christian Connors, CEO of SDS. “They cannot afford to empty their sports stadium or movie theater over a false alert, and they trust that Guardian will detect gunshot activity accurately so they can respond appropriately. With Guardian, gunshots or explosions in action movies will not trigger false alerts.”
For more information, visit www.ShooterDetectionSystems.com.
SOURCE: Shooter Detection Systems (SDS)