Threat detection and notification system for public safety vehicles

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a threat detection and notification system capable of capturing streaming video. The system preferably identifies a first object in a frame of streaming video and determines whether it is consistent with at least one predetermined object type, e.g., “person” or “weapon”. In a first embodiment, if the first object is consistent with a “person” object type, the system determines whether it is recognized as a known entity. If so, the system determines whether or not the first object is in a non-upright orientation. If so, the system generates a first alert notification to at least a first device. In another aspect, if the first object is not recognized as a known entity, the system can further determine whether the first object is recognized as a person-of-interest, and, if so, the system can generate a second alert notification to at least a second device.

What we claim as our invention is: 
     
         1 . A method of processing captured streaming video on a frame-by-frame basis for threat detection and notification, said method comprising the steps of:
 identifying a first object in a first frame of captured streaming video;   determining whether the first object is consistent with at least one predetermined object type;   upon determining that the first object is consistent with a “person” object type, determining whether or not the first object is recognized as a known entity;   upon determining that the first object is recognized as a known entity, determining whether or not the first object is in a non-upright orientation; and   upon determining that the first object is in a non-upright orientation, generating a first alert notification to at least a first device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , said method further comprising the step of:
 upon determining that the first object is in a non-upright orientation, transmitting location data corresponding to a location at which the first frame of streaming video was captured to at least the first device.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , said method further comprising the step of:
 upon determining that the first object is in a non-upright orientation, generating a second alert notification to at least a second device.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , said method further comprising the step of transmitting at least the first frame of captured streaming video to at least the first device. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , said method further comprising the step of embedding within the first frame a graphic overlay around the first object upon determining that the first object is consistent with a “person” object type. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , said method further comprising the steps of:
 upon determining that the first object is not recognized as a known entity, determining whether or not the first object is recognized as a person-of-interest; and   upon determining that the first object is recognized as a person-of-interest, generating a second alert notification to at least a second device.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , said method further comprising the step of:
 upon determining that the first object is recognized as a person-of-interest, transmitting location data corresponding to a location at which the first frame of streaming video was captured to at least the first device.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , said method further comprising the step of:
 upon determining that the first object is recognized as a person-of-interest, generating a third alert notification to at least a third device.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , said method further comprising the step of transmitting at least the first frame of captured streaming video to at least the second device. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , said method further comprising the step of enabling at least a first user to disable a broadcasting of the second alert notification on at least the second device. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 6 , said method further comprising the step of embedding within the first frame a graphic overlay around the first object upon determining that the first object is consistent with a “person” object type. 
     
     
         12 . A method of processing captured streaming video on a frame-by-frame basis for threat detection and notification, said method comprising the steps of:
 identifying a first object in a first frame of captured streaming video;   determining whether the first object is consistent with at least one predetermined object type;   upon determining that the first object is consistent with a “weapon” object type, determining whether or not the first object is in the possession of a known entity;   upon determining that the first object is not in the possession of a known entity, generating a first alert notification to at least a first device.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , said method further comprising the step of:
 upon determining that the first object is consistent with a “weapon” object type, determining whether the first object is consistent with predetermined weapon type.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the predetermined weapon type is selected from a group consisting of “knife”, “handgun” and “rifle”. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , said method further comprising the steps of:
 upon determining that the first object is not in the possession of a known entity, determining whether or not the first object is recognized as being located in a gun rack attached to a vehicle; and   upon determining that the first object is recognized as being located in a gun rack attached to a vehicle, disabling the generation of the first alert notification to at least the first device.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , said method further comprising the steps of:
 upon determining that the first object is not in the possession of a known entity, determining whether or not the first object is recognized as being secured; and   upon determining that the first object is recognized as being secured, disabling the generation of the first alert notification to at least the first device.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , said method further comprising the step of:
 upon determining that the first object is not in the possession of a known entity, transmitting location data corresponding to a location at which the first frame of streaming video was captured to at least a second device.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , said method further comprising the step of:
 upon determining that the first object is not in the possession of a known entity, generating a second alert notification to at lease a third device.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , said method further comprising the step of transmitting at least the first frame of captured streaming video to at least the first device. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 12 , said method further comprising the step of embedding within the first frame a graphic overlay around the first object upon determining that the first object is consistent with a “weapon” object type.