Turning Surveillance Into Strategy: AI’s Role in Driving Proactive Security

• By Jill Renihan
• July 10, 2025

Video surveillance has long been part of the campus safety toolkit, indispensable for investigating security incidents after they occur and a valuable tool for proactive deterrent.

With AI advancements, the possibilities are changing and campus leaders are thinking more broadly and creatively about how video technology can play a more active role in managing security, operations, and resources. Let’s explore how AI is shaping expectations – and expanding the possibilities – for on-campus video surveillance deployments.

From Forensics to Foresight
A prime example of where surveillance systems are shifting from forensic tools to proactive crime deterrents is perimeter security. Traditionally, cameras at campus boundaries provided footage for review after an incident.

Today, AI-enabled systems can detect someone lingering near a restricted area, moving against the expected flow of foot traffic, or approaching campus grounds at an unusual hour – all without constant human monitoring. Instead, unusual behaviors or situations trigger alerts that may initiate automated responses, such as audio warnings to leave the premises, brighter illumination of the area, and notifications sent to law enforcement. Alerts also allow human operators to focus their attention where it’s most needed, observing and assessing potentially troublesome situations in real time. The shift from passive to active monitoring gives security teams a deeper understanding of what’s happening and the tools to react promptly.

Similarly, the same technology deployed around buildings at exterior doorways can politely direct individuals to the main entrance during operating hours. After hours, it can let visitors know when to return—and remind them that their actions are being monitored and recorded.

Crowd Control and Crisis Management
Video analytics play an essential role in event management. Whether it’s a large-scale protest, football game, concert, or pep rally, the ability to monitor crowd size, movement patterns, and access points helps campuses maintain order and public safety.

AI-powered systems can count people in real time, sending alerts when crowd density exceeds safe thresholds or when bottlenecks form at entryways or exits. This level of situational awareness empowers campus police and event organizers to deploy personnel proactively, rather than reacting after tensions rise.

These capabilities become even more powerful when paired with complementary technologies. Sound detection systems, for example, can be integrated with video surveillance to pinpoint the location of a disturbance and bring up relevant camera feeds.

Audio analytics can pick up escalating volumes that may indicate aggressive behaviors that precede potentially violent altercations. Because security staff can instantly see relevant camera footage, they can avoid responding indiscriminately to each alert. Instead, they can determine whether they are facing a real emergency, its level of severity, and what kind of response is needed.

Should an evacuation be necessary, video intelligence can guide decision-makers with live visibility to evaluate what areas have been cleared, where congestion remains, and how to direct attendees to safety. For campuses balancing large, diverse populations and frequent public events, AI analytics offer critical assessments of dynamic environments that once relied purely on human observation.

The Daily Demands of K-12
The K-12 environment offers unique ways to leverage AI-powered surveillance.

Drop-off and pickup periods, for example, are often chaotic. Cameras with vehicle detection and license plate recognition can track which buses have arrived and in what order, allowing schools to notify duty staff and coordinate student dismissal more efficiently. Analytics can also identify excessive vehicle backups at pickup areas, prompting the deployment of additional staff to maintain traffic flow.

Students may congregate between classes or during lunch periods in courtyards or other common areas – usually just for socializing, but also engaging in behaviors that sometimes spiral out of control without adult supervision. AI can flag groups clustering in unexpected locations or converging rapidly on a particular spot. Real-time alerts allow staff to respond before minor disruptions become serious behavioral incidents.

Vaping often occurs in areas where cameras are prohibited. However, vape sensors mounted inside restrooms and locker rooms can be integrated with hall-mounted cameras that capture who enters and exits. Video clips correlated to vaping alerts provide staff with a starting point to identify the culprits.

Expanding Use of Body Cams
K-12 and higher-ed campuses are increasingly exploring the use of body-worn cameras as a tool for improving safety, transparency, and accountability. Whether worn by school resource officers, campus police, security staff, or bus drivers, these devices offer a firsthand view of interactions that might otherwise rely on conflicting eye-witness reports. Their presence alone can encourage more respectful behavior, while footage provides valuable documentation during a dispute, incident, or investigation.

Beyond security, body cams have operational benefits. For example, footage can document maintenance issues. In some cases, contractors performing work on campus are asked to wear body cams, providing oversight without requiring constant supervision.

As with any surveillance tool, clear policies must guide how and when body cams are used, how footage is stored, and who has access.

Seeing More with Less
As analytics and camera technologies advance, many campuses are discovering they can enhance coverage while installing fewer devices. Multi-sensor cameras, for example, can monitor multiple angles simultaneously, reducing hardware requirements, simplifying network infrastructure, and lowering overall installation costs. Today, one camera can effectively monitor a four-way hallway intersection that once needed four separate units.

Seeing more with less is also a function of how and where analytics are processed. Many campuses now deploy a hybrid approach—running some analytics at the edge (within the camera itself) and others through centralized video management systems (VMS) or cloud-based platforms. This flexibility allows institutions to align their systems with specific goals, infrastructure constraints, and available budgets.

Confidence in Every Camera
Modern surveillance systems do more than monitor people—they also monitor themselves. Health diagnostics built into today’s smart cameras and audio devices can alert staff when a unit is offline, misaligned, obstructed, or suffering from image degradation. This allows IT and security teams to fix issues proactively, rather than discovering too late that a critical camera failed to record during an incident.

For campuses managing hundreds—or even thousands—of devices across multiple buildings, these automated health checks reduce maintenance burdens and improve overall system reliability. In a crisis, security teams can feel confident that the system is healthy and technology will perform as intended.

It’s Not the Tools, It’s How You Use Them
School leaders' most common mistake is assuming technology alone will solve their problems. Buying the next shiny thing typically doesn’t make schools safer at all. Without clear goals and assessments, even the most sophisticated tools can underdeliver.

Ultimately, AI-powered analytics allow campuses to be more proactive, efficient, and secure. But the goal is not to create a surveillance state—it’s to protect learning environments where students can thrive and teachers can teach. And – its value lies not in novelty, but in how well it’s woven into a system that keeps campuses safer, more connected, and better prepared.