New York City will soon begin testing technology that uses artificial intelligence for detection Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday that there were guns on the subway turnstiles. Adams’ announcement comes a week after a man was shot during an argument at a Brooklyn subway station after pulling another passenger with his own gun.
Adams said the city is working with Evolv, a Massachusetts-based weapons detection company whose detectors are used in schools and sites across the country. However, Evolv faces scrutiny over the accuracy of its machines, as well as two government investigations and a class-action lawsuit from shareholders.
The pilot program will begin within 90 days under the POST Act, which requires the NYPD to disclose the surveillance technology it uses and issue an impact and usage statement before the new technology is put into use. Adams said the city will also use the 90-day waiting period to review other vendors. “This city has a tech mayor,” Adams said. “Bring us your technology. Let’s test it.”
Adams did not say where the scanners would be installed or how many would be used. Evolv scanners are already in use at Citi Field — Evolv is the “Official Fan Screening Provider of the Mets” — Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After a gunman opened fire on a subway car in Brooklyn in 2022, Adams temporarily installed an Evolv scanner outside the entrance to City Hall. That year, the city conducted a similar Evolv pilot in the city after a man was shot and killed in a hospital emergency room waiting room in the Bronx. Dozens of school districts across the country have also installed Evolv scanners in an attempt to prevent school shootings.
Evolv’s scanners reportedly flagged umbrellas as firearms but failed to detect aluminum and steel tubes cut into barrels
Evolv’s scanner looks like a metal detector but is equipped with artificial intelligence. The company claims the scanner uses “safe, ultra-low frequency electromagnetic fields and advanced sensors to detect concealed weapons.” Evolv CEO Peter George claims the scanner can detect almost any type of weapon. “We have signed off on every threat that exists: every gun that exists, every bomb that exists, every large tactical knife that exists,” George said in 2021.
But reports suggest the technology doesn’t actually work that well. Evolv’s scanners reportedly marked umbrellas as firearms but failed to detect aluminum and steel pipes that were cut into the shape of gun barrels. last year, intercept Reports say some school districts are frustrated that Evolv’s machines fail to detect knives in students’ backpacks or mistakenly identify lunch boxes as bombs.
In 2022, surveillance industry research publication IPVM reported that Evolv had paid for testing by the National Spectator Sports Security Center, which the company later described as “completely independent.” Evolv also edited the purportedly independent report to remove information about lower detection rates for certain weapons, according to the IPVM report.
In October last year, the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into whether Evolv’s artificial intelligence detection system worked as advertised, and in February, Evolv revealed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had also launched a “non-public fact-finding investigation.” In March, investors filed a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of misrepresenting the efficacy of its products and “deceiving the public, customers and investors.”
Despite this, Evolv remains Adams’ preferred supplier.Some of the mayor’s top donors have significant investments in Evolv, which new york daily news 2022 coverage. “Imagine me saying, ‘No, we’re not going to invest in technology that can identify guns because someone is an investor in that technology,'” Adams said in 2022. “You know, good technology can save lives. I have an obligation and responsibility to promote it.”
The pilot project has already drawn criticism. “The gun detection system is flawed and frequently triggers false alarms,” the Legal Aid Society, the city’s largest public defense nonprofit, said in a statement. “Contrary to the mayor’s claims, New York City should not be a testing ground for surveillance companies; the public has not yet consented to participate in these experiments.”
Adams noted that violent crime, gun-related or otherwise, remains relatively low in the subway system. Adams said crime is down citywide, down 16% from February to March, but polls show New Yorkers feel increasingly unsafe regardless. “If they don’t feel safe, then we can’t accomplish our mission,” Adams said. “Statistics are meaningless if people don’t believe they are in a safe environment.”