On December 17, 2019 Patriot One (PAT.T) announced a collaboration with Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC), part of Major League Soccer (MLS), to pilot its PATSCAN Platform at Banc of California Stadium.
PAT is an A.I-driven concealed weapons-detection company – that is transitioning from being a technology incubator – into a sales company.
You can check out the product demonstration videos on the re-vamped website.
When investors talk about tech companies, they often like to ask: “What PROBLEM is it solving?”
Here’s the problem: there are more than 390 million guns in the United States. Every year about 35,000 people are killed, and 120,000 suffer non-fatal injuries due to firearms.
The situation is so dire that an Amnesty International Report called “gun violence in the United States a human rights crisis.
LAFC is a Los Angeles expansion team, created after the dissolution of Chivas USA. The club announced Bob Bradley as its head coach in July 2017 and on March 4, 2018, played its first MLS game, a 1–0 win against Seattle Sounders FC
Opened on April 18, 2018, the Banc of California Stadium is a soccer-specific venue, the first open-air stadium built in L.A. since 1962.
The club has a consortium of owners in including entertainment mogul Peter Gruber, NBA legend Magic Johnson, life coach guru Tony Robbins and A-list funny-man, Will Ferrell.
In a ceremony to mark the opening of the stadium, Ferrell carried a falcon onto the pitch, and then released it to an enormous crowd roar.
The PATSCAN Multi-Sensor Covert Threat Detection Platform will ship in January 2020 to the security team at LAFC. Stadium security and Patriot One engineers will execute the integration of the pilot deployment project.
For security reasons, the specific location of the PAT’s weapons’ detection technology will not be disclosed.
In California, an estimated 14 % of the population own guns (4.2 million residents).
In this state, back ground checks for criminal history, mental illness and domestic violence are required. Despite this, one in four weapons on the street were purchased side-stepping background checks.
This summer, L.A. police raided a mansion in an upscale Los Angeles neighborhood, and recovered 1,000 guns in a scene described as a “hoarder’s paradise.”
“I had never seen so many weapons in my career of 31 years,” stated Lieutenant Chris Ramirez.
“Most incidents occur at locations in which the killers find little impediment in pressing their attack,” states Patriot One. “Locations are generally described as soft targets, that is, they carry limited security measures to protect members of the public.”
The ability to “covertly detect” weapons is critical to PAT’s utility in public environments. Beer-buzzed season ticket-holders do not want to be frisked at the gate of the modern stadium, or pass through visible metal detectors.
“It’s time to make soft targets hard without impacting citizens’ rights and freedoms,” confirmed Patriot One CEO and President Martin Cronin who has already met with the Department of Homeland Security, Secret Service and Pentagon officials to discuss PATSCAN deployment in a civil liberties and privacy context.
“In the New Year, our installation team will begin work with the LAFC and Banc of California Stadium on this important game safety initiative,” stated Cronin, “MLS fans will enjoy an added layer of security while attending their favorite team’s home games in Southern California.”
Patriot One’s vision is to “create a world safe from acts of violence” and also to help “save a way of life” so that people can do normal stuff, like attending soccer games with their families and fellow fans, without being worried about gun play.
“Customer safety is our number one priority at Banc of California Stadium,” said LAFC V.P of Information Technology Christian Lau. “We are excited to work with Patriot One to give customers an extra layer of security.”
“FBI statistics released in April identified 27 mass killings in 2018 as active shooter incidents, and 2019 has seen at least 21 mass shootings prior to October”.
Responses to these threats have included armed security guards, armed teachers, padlocked entrances, metal detectors, bag x-ray systems, and mass notification alert systems.
PAT’s technology allows early detection and delay or active assailants’ progress into a building before they fire a shot or inflict harm.
It’s a potential life-saver. PAT investors are anxious for full scale commercial deployment. Collaborations with large U.S. enterprises like LAFC are creating a real world “proof-of-concept” foundation. This may not be a cure for investor impatience, but in the long term, it’s a good thing.
After the initial pilot deployment of the PATSCAN Platform with LAFC, Patriot One is expected to “broaden deployment” of its technology throughout the stadium complex.
Next time PAT pitches a stadium owner, the sales team won’t have pull out its power-point, it can just say, “Come and see how the tech works at the home stadium of the LAFC.”
– Lukas Kane
Full Disclosure: Patriot One is an Equity Guru marketing client.