Patent Application
20180122030
The claimed invention relates to door lockdown systems, and more particularly, to a system and method that combines door locking technology, gunshot detection technology, and the control software for operating the system.
Historically, in the event of an active shooter, the majority of violence occurs in the first five minutes of the event. Usually, it takes ten minutes or more for law enforcement to arrive on the scene. Law enforcement arrives on the scene with scant information and are sometimes ambushed and killed by the deranged shooter.
Other systems that detect gunshots are connected to a monitoring station, which depends on a monitored building authority, and the human operator notifying an administrator of the gunshot situation, which will require a manual activation of the emergency system. Other gunshot detecting systems are triggering video feed from the location where the event is taking place; however, the lockdown sequence is manually activated.
Some approaches require the room occupant, usually the teacher, to lock the classroom door or exterior door manually. There is electronic access control, but that would still require a person to actuate the system should an active shooter start firing inside or outside a school. The problem with the manual approaches is that it relies on people to perform the task, and it takes a few minutes for the message to propagate to the affected area and take action. Another disadvantage is the high cost of such a system.
These state of the art approaches are not automated and require human response to actuate the system or lock a door, and there is too much time lost. These notification systems are sluggish and sometimes inaccurate. Thus, today this function is being performed manually, and it relies on the people to be at the right place at the right time.
The Emergency Automated Gunshot Lockdown (hereinafter “EAGL”) system is designed to force the automatic lockdown of the doors in the event of an active shooter, and send notifications to law enforcement with real time data including shooter imagery, GPS locations, and weapon ballistic data with great accuracy and detail.
The EAGL system is a fully automated system. It locks the doors in seconds therefore containing the perpetrator in a certain area, and buys the people in the area time to escape or execute other lifesaving actions. The EAGL also automatically calls authorities and other building security notifying them of an active shooter situation including shooter imagery, GPS location of the shooter, along with weapons ballistics data. EAGL also displays in real time, the location of the shooter and activates the public address system with the emergency messages, and streams the closest camera video to the security control room monitor. All this is done in a matter of seconds with no human intervention, therefore, not subject to human error.
The primary advantage of this system is that it detects gunfire, notifies law enforcement of the presence of a shooter, and gathers critical data such as GPS location and imagery of the shooter as well as ballistic data of the event. It locks down classrooms and perimeter doors to deter a shooter from entering, and it sends alerts and emergency messaging through the PA system to notify building occupants of an active shooter.
Further advantages are that building occupants are protected by an automatic lockdown to keep the shooter out, then law enforcement is given real time data so they are able to provide adequate and immediate response to an active shooter without becoming a victim. Then, building occupants are given critical lifesaving information within seconds of an active shooter situation giving them situational awareness to make life saving decisions and movement away from the violence.
Other or related systems, methods, features, and advantages of the invention will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and form a part of the specification, illustrate several embodiments of the presently claimed invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the presently claimed invention. The drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating a preferred embodiment of the presently claimed invention and are not to be construed as limiting the presently claimed invention. In the drawings:
As utilized herein, terms such as “about”, “approximately”, substantially, and “near” are intended to allow some leeway in mathematic& exactness to account for tolerances that are acceptable in the trade. Accordingly, any deviations upward or downward from the value modified by the terms “about”, “approximately”, “substantially”, or “near” in the range of 1% to 20% or less should be considered to be explicitly within the scope of the stated value.
As used herein, the term “software” includes source code, assembly language code, binary code, firmware, macro-instructions, micro-instructions, or the like, or any combination of two or more of the foregoing.
The term “memory” refers to any processor-readable medium, including but not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, PROM, EEPROM, disk, floppy disk, hard disk, CD-ROM, DVD, or the like, or any combination of two or more of the foregoing, on which may be stored a series of software instructions executable by a processor.
The terms “processor” or central processing unit “CPU” refer to any device capable of executing a series of instructions and includes, without limitation, a general or special-purpose microprocessor, finite state machine, controller, computer, digital signal processor (DSP), or the like.
The term “logic” refers to implementations of functionality in hardware, software, or any combination of hardware and software.
The EAGL software integrates with a gunshot detector and an access control system that have a real time lockdown capability. The EAGL will automatically execute one or more preprogrammed scenarios that were entered into the system based on the specific customer security strategy.
The EAGL system also integrates with existing security systems such as an IP camera system, PA system, and phone dialer, as well as security command and control centers. It will manage multiple buildings based on the preprogramed scenarios.
In order to access the system, a user name and password are entered 50. This presupposes the creating of a user name and password (not shown). User name and/or password can be edited 52 by user 54. The scenario planning and programming can only be accessed by an administrator (not user) privileged in this preferred method. This information is fed to integrator 56 to create users and administrator database 58. Database 58 is populated with building name, server IP, user name, and password 60. For each customer location and budding name, the access control server IP is preferably entered. Next, door groups 62 are selected and entered and can also be displayed. EAGL will import all the door groups 62 that are defined in CPU 24, and will allow the user to choose a door group 62 or multiple door groups to be locked during a lockdown in a building. If there are more buildings 64 a “yes” feedback loop 66 takes the administrator back to step 60 to enter the next building information. This can be repeated until all of the subject buildings are entered. If there are no further buildings 68, the next step is to create a map 70, which preferably contains a building name, address, door location for each building, and a location of each sensor or gunshot detector in each building. In a preferred system, once the building address is entered, the EAGL displays a google map of that building. The administrator can center the building at the center of the display area and will size it accordingly. The administrator preferably selects from the list of the door names, and drags and places them on the building map in its appropriate location. He/she can also place the gunshot detectors on the map. If there are more buildings 72 a feedback loop 74 repeats step 70 until all of the building door and gunshot detectors are mapped.
Once there are no further buildings for entry 76, a building name and PA system information 78 is entered. This administration program can include a PA system computer path/IP address, and entry of the message or messages for storage and broadcast for the different scenarios. If there are more buildings 80, a feedback loop 82 requests additional building PA system setups 78 until no further building PA systems 84 exist.
Next, the administrator enters a computer path to direct gunshot data or results for display or additional messages to be broadcast after gunshot detection 86. This data can be sent to more or other command centers 88.
The administrator then enters the building name for each gunshot detector location, and the IP address of the nearest camera 90 for set up to that sensor in each building. Each camera display path is entered with camera IP and map location 92 for that building. If there are further buildings 94, feedback loop 96 allows for further camera setups 90 until all buildings are included and no other building needs entry 98. Next, ail camera setups are displayed 100 and the administrator can edit 102 any of the previous entries to optimize the system until complete 104.
Another feature that can be included in the administrator programing is a dialer with emergency 911 and building security office and management to alert them of a manual or gunshot trigger of the system (not shown).
A unique feature of the presently claimed invention is the dynamic creation and selection of scenarios for triggering in the event of an active shooter, or the like.
For this example, assume a shot is fired and is detected by gunshot detectors 22 and a gunshot location 36 is automatically determined in building A 120. In this scenario, all of the doors are automatically locked 26″ and at least one of the closest cameras 90 are aimed towards the located gunshot 36. In this scenario, if the intruder is contained by locked doors 26″, other doors in the building can be opened to allow legal building occupants to exit the building. (Not shown).
As shown in the figures the EAGL response can be programmed as follows:
1. Lock all the doors 26″ in Building A 120 (the preferred system exit is always allowed).
2. Lock all the external doors 26″ in Building B 122.
3. Show the map door lock status 26 on a building display 40, and show on the map the location and coordinates of the shooter 140.
4. Display across the EAGL screen 40 location 36, a time and the caliber weapon was used.
5. Call 911 46 and the rest of the building officials letting them know that gunfire was detected at building A 120.
6. Send e-mail, text, and mass notification messages 142.
7. Direct the closest camera 28 to the shooter and display that information on the EAGL display 40.
8. Activate the PA systems 30 in Building A 120 and B 122, and send the appropriate messages to Building A and B's PA system. The preferred message transmitted in Building A 120 can be “evacuate the building” and the preferred message broadcast in Building B 122 can be “stay inside the building”.
Many of these steps are in the alternative, meaning that they can be omitted or expanded, depending on the site layout and building use. A different scenario is then programmed for a different part of Building A and also for the differing portions of Building B and Building N (next). These scenarios are preprogrammed into EPLEX servers 24 and are automatically selected and implemented depending on the location of the shot detection.
When a gunshot is detected, the EAGL will execute the scenarios that were programmed per building, lock the programmed doors per building, and display the shooter location. It will then send preselected PA messages, display the video stream of the camera at the location, and alternatively dial 911 and all other programmed numbers. The preferred software is running on a Linux based computer that allows the execution of the scenarios in a very short period of time and it is functional twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
The new features are the broad integration of this system with multiple external systems and the ability to control access and control doors remotely. The traditional way of locking down buildings manually by humans would not provide instant lockdown or precious time needed for building occupants to escape and survive an active shooter. The presently claimed system response time is approximately twenty seconds from the time the gunshot is detected to the time the door is locked and law enforcement notified.
Although the presently claimed invention has been described in detail with particular reference to these preferred embodiments, other embodiments can achieve the same results. Variations and modifications of the presently claimed invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art and it is intended to cover all such modifications and equivalents. The entire disclosures of all references, applications, patents, and publications cited above, are hereby incorporated by reference.
