NYC Considering Weapons Detection Tech for Subway System
The chief executive of Evolv Technology said his company’s screening devices would have detected suspected gunman Frank James’s alleged weapon if they had been installed in the subway system.
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The recent subway mass shooting has prompted New York City to investigate the use of weapon-detection technology, reports the Wall Street Journal. Mayor Eric Adams says that cutting-edge screening technology could improve safety in the transit system without disrupting the flow of pedestrian traffic. According to Peter George, the chief executive of Massachusetts-based Evolv Technology, his company’s screening devices would have detected alleged gunman Frank James’s weapon if they had been installed in the subway system.
Evolv’s devices use sensors and artificial intelligence to detect guns, knives and other weapons on people as they pass through a screening tower, sending a picture of the person and the location of the weapon to a tablet used by a security officer if one is detected. Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a New York-based civil-liberties group, warned that weapon-detection technology in the subway system could lead to unwarranted searches and that independent studies have shown that the screening towers can sometimes be unreliable and erroneously identify an eyeglass case for a weapon. See also: Does Gunshot Detection Technology Actually Work? The Crime Report, April 7, 2022
