According to Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday, New York City will soon begin testing a technology that employs artificial intelligence (AI) to identify guns at subway turnstiles. Adams made his declaration a week after an altercation at a Brooklyn subway station in which a guy pulled his own gun on another rider and was shot with it.
According to Adams, the city is working with Evolv, a weapons detection business based in Massachusetts whose detectors are utilized in public spaces like schools all throughout the nation. On the other hand, Evolv has been the target of two government investigations, a class action lawsuit from shareholders, and criticism over the accuracy of their equipment.
In compliance with the POST Act, which mandates that the New York City Police Department publish impact and use statements prior to implementing new technologies and reveal the technology it utilizes for surveillance, the pilot program will begin in ninety days. According to Adams, the city will screen additional vendors throughout the 90-day waiting period. Adams declared, “This city has a technology mayor.” “Bring us your technologies. Let us test it.”
Adams did not specify the location or number of scanners that will be in operation. Since Evolv is the “official fan screening provider of the Mets,” scanners from the company are already in use at Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Citi Field. Adams temporarily erected an Evolv scanner outside City Hall’s entrance in 2022 in response to a shooter’s attack on a Brooklyn subway car. In response to a man being shot in the ER waiting room at a Bronx hospital that year, the city launched a similar Evolv experiment. In an effort to stop school shootings, Evolv scanners have also been placed in dozens of school districts nationwide.
Although they resemble metal detectors, Evolv’s scanners are AI-powered. “Safe, ultra-low frequency, electromagnetic fields and advanced sensors to detect concealed weapons,” according to the business, are the methods used by the scanners. According to Peter George, CEO of Evolv, the scanners can identify almost any kind of firearm. “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 declared in 2021.
However, reviews suggest the technology isn’t that effective in practice. According to reports, Evolv’s scanners have identified umbrellas as firearms but have not identified steel and aluminum tubes that have been trimmed to resemble gun barrels. According to an article published in The Intercept last year, many school districts expressed frustration with Evolv’s scanners as they were unable to recognize blades in children’ bags or mistook lunchboxes for bombs.
Evolv paid for testing conducted by the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security in 2022, according to information published by IPVM, a website that covers the surveillance market. The business then referred to this testing as “fully independent.” According to the IPVM study, Evolv also altered the ostensibly independent report, eliminating details regarding the poor detection rates for specific weapons.
The Securities and Exchange Commission also launched a “non-public, fact-finding inquiry,” according to information released by Evolv in February. In October of last year, the Federal Trade Commission initiated an investigation to see whether Evolv’s AI detection system functions as promised. Investors claimed that the corporation had “deceived the general public, customers, and investors” and misrepresented the effectiveness of its goods in a class action lawsuit filed in March.
Nevertheless, Adams continues to favor Evolv as his dealer. As reported by the New York Daily News in 2022, a number of the mayor’s most generous donors had substantial holdings in Evolv. “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.”
Critics of the pilot have already surfaced. The largest nonprofit public defender organization in the city, Legal Aid Society, released a statement saying that “gun detection systems are flawed and frequently trigger false alarms.” “New York City should not be used as a testing ground for surveillance corporations, despite the mayor’s claims; the public has not given their consent to be involved in these experiments.”
Adams pointed out that gun-related or not, violent crimes on the subway system are still very uncommon. Although there has been a 16 percent drop in crime citywide between February and March, according to Adams, surveys indicate that New Yorkers still feel more and more afraid. “If they don’t feel safe, then we aren’t accomplishing our task.” Adams stated, “Stats don’t matter if people don’t believe they’re in a safe environment.”
