Rowley, Massachusetts - June 25, 2019 – Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), the security industry’s leading gunshot detection solutions provider, today announced that a Texas movie theater company has installed the Guardian Indoor Active Shooter Detection System in their chain of multi-cinema movie theaters to alert building occupants and law enforcement to shooting incidents in their facilities.
Challenges to the Theater Environment
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 one 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,” said 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."
A Layered Security Approach
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 their 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,” said Christian Connors, Chief Executive Officer 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.”
Gunshot Detection Across the U.S.
Since the Guardian’s debut to the market in 2014 the company has amassed hundreds of customers in schools, corporations, airports, U.S. Department of Defense bases and Federal Government Agencies. They system is also installed in complex environments like manufacturing plants and entertainment facilities. In addition, over twenty-percent of Fortune 500 corporations trust the Guardian System to protect their staff, visitors and brand against shooter threats, a distinction unique to SDS as the respected leader in the market. “These types of customers validate why SDS refused to bring an acoustic-only gunshot detection system to the indoor market. Gunshot detection systems are about saving lives, and as life safety devices, they must be held to the highest standards.”
About Shooter Detection Systems
With over fifteen years of experience in the development and delivery of gunshot detection systems to military and commercial customers, Shooter Detection Systems (SDS) is recognized as the security industry’s leading provider of gunshot detection solutions for schools, businesses, airports, critical infrastructure sites, U.S. Department of Defense bases, Federal Government Agencies and entertainment and manufacturing spaces, including over twenty-percent of Fortune 500 corporations who trust their indoor and outdoor solutions to accurately detect and rapidly report gunshots in their environments with zero false alerts. Developed in conjunction with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and a major defense contractor, SDS’ gunshot detection systems are SAFETY Act Certified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Approved for U.K. Government Use by the Centre for the Protection of Critical Infrastructure (CPNI), and SL4 Certified by the Australian Government’s Security Construction & Equipment Committee (SCEC), certifications exclusively held by their leading product, the Guardian Indoor Active Shooter Detection System. For more information, visit ShooterDetectionSystems.com, call 1-844-SHOT911, and follow on Twitter@shooterdetect.
