New
York
City
will
soon
start
testing
out
technology
that
uses
AI
to
detect
guns
at
subway
turnstiles,
Mayor
Eric
Adams
said
on
Thursday.
Adams’
announcement
comes
one
week
after
an
altercation
at
a
subway
station
in
Brooklyn
in
which
a
man
was
shot
with
his
own
gun
after
pulling
it
on
another
passenger.
Adams
said
the
city
is
partnering
with
Evolv,
a
Massachusetts-based
weapons
detection
company
whose
detectors
are
used
in
schools
and
venues
across
the
country.
Evolv,
however,
has
faced
scrutiny
over
the
accuracy
of
its
machines,
as
well
as
two
government
probes
and
a
class
action
lawsuit
by
shareholders.
The
pilot
will
start
in
90
days,
in
accordance
with
the
POST
Act,
which
requires
the
New
York
City
Police
Department
to
disclose
the
surveillance
technologies
it
uses
and
publish
impact
and
use
statements
before
new
technologies
are
put
into
place.
Adams
said
the
city
will
also
use
the
90-day
waiting
period
to
vet
other
vendors.
“This
city
has
a
technology
mayor,”
Adams
said.
“Bring
us
your
technologies.
Let
us
test
it.”
Adams
did
not
say
where
the
scanners
will
be
installed
or
how
many
will
be
in
use.
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.
Adams
temporarily
installed
an
Evolv
scanner
outside
the
entrance
to
City
Hall
in
2022
after
a
shooter
opened
fire
on
a
subway
car
in
Brooklyn.
That
year,
the
city
ran
a
similar
Evolv
pilot
at
a
hospital
in
the
Bronx
after
a
man
was
shot
inside
the
ER
waiting
room
there.
Dozens
of
school
districts
across
the
country
have
also
installed
Evolv
scanners
in
attempts
to
prevent
campus
shootings.
Evolv’s
scanners
have
reportedly
flagged
umbrellas
as
guns
but
failed
to
detect
aluminum
and
steel
tubes
that
were
cut
to
look
like
gun
barrels
Evolv’s
scanners
look
like
metal
detectors
but
are
equipped
with
AI.
The
company
claims
the
scanners
use
“safe,
ultra-low
frequency,
electromagnetic
fields
and
advanced
sensors
to
detect
concealed
weapons.”
Evolv
CEO
Peter
George
has
claimed
the
scanners
can
detect
virtually
any
type
of
weapon.
“We’ve
written
the
signatures
for
all
the
threats
that
are
out
there:
all
the
guns
that
exist,
all
the
bombs,
all
the
large
tactical
knives,”
George
said
in
2021.
But
reports
suggest
the
technology
doesn’t
actually
work
all
that
well.
Evolv’s
scanners
have
reportedly
flagged
umbrellas
as
guns
but
failed
to
detect
aluminum
and
steel
tubes
that
were
cut
to
look
like
gun
barrels.
Last
year,
The
Intercept
reported
that
some
school
districts
were
frustrated
by
Evolv’s
machines
failing
to
detect
knives
in
students’
backpacks
or
mistakenly
identifying
lunchboxes
as
bombs.
In
2022,
the
surveillance
industry
research
publication
IPVM
reported
that
Evolv
had
paid
for
testing
by
the
National
Center
for
Spectator
Sports
Safety
and
Security,
which
the
company
later
described
as
“fully
independent.”
Evolv
also
edited
the
purportedly
independent
report,
removing
information
about
the
low
rates
of
detection
for
certain
weapons,
according
to
the
IPVM
report.
Last
October,
the
Federal
Trade
Commission
opened
an
inquiry
into
whether
Evolv’s
AI
detection
system
works
as
advertised,
and
in
February,
Evolv
disclosed
that
the
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
had
also
opened
a
“non-public,
fact-finding
inquiry.”
In
March,
investors
filed
a
class
action
lawsuit
alleging
that
the
company
had
misrepresented
the
efficacy
of
its
products
and
“deceived
the
general
public,
customers,
and
investors.”
Evolv
nonetheless
remains
Adams’
preferred
vendor.
Some
of
the
mayor’s
top
donors
hold
sizable
investments
in
Evolv,
the
New
York
Daily
News
reported
in
2022.
“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
saves
lives.
I
have
an
obligation
and
a
responsibility
to
bring
it
forward.”
The
pilot
has
already
drawn
critics.
“Gun
detection
systems
are
flawed
and
frequently
trigger
false
alarms,”
the
Legal
Aid
Society,
the
city’s
largest
public
defender
nonprofit,
said
in
a
statement.
“Contrary
to
the
mayor’s
claims,
New
York
City
should
not
serve
as
a
testing
ground
for
surveillance
corporations;
the
public
has
not
consented
to
be
a
part
of
these
experiments.”
Adams
noted
that
violent
crime
on
the
subway
system,
gun-related
or
otherwise,
remains
relatively
rare.
Crime
is
down
city-wide,
with
a
16
percent
decrease
from
February
to
March,
Adams
said
—
but
polls
suggest
that
New
Yorkers
feel
increasingly
unsafe
anyway.
“If
they
don’t
feel
safe,
then
we
aren’t
accomplishing
our
task,”
Adams
said.
“Stats
don’t
matter
if
people
don’t
believe
they’re
in
a
safe
environment.”
Original author: Gaby Del Valle
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