AI-powered weapons scanners used in NYC subway found zero guns in one month test

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ The Associated Press

FILE - In this image provided by The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), new weapon detectors that can be deployed at subway entrances are displayed during a news conference in New York, March 28, 2024. (Marc A. Hermann/Metropolitan Transportation Authority via AP, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Marc A. Hermann]

NEW YORK (AP) — A pilot program testing AI-powered weapons scanners inside some New York City subway stations this summer did not detect any passengers with firearms — but falsely alerted more than 100 times, according to newly released police data.

Through nearly 3,000 searches, the scanners turned up more than 118 false positives as well as 12 knives, police said, though they declined to say whether the positive hits referred to illegal blades or tools, such as pocket knives, that are allowed in the transit system.

Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat and tech enthusiast, announced plans to pilot the portable scanners, manufactured by Evolv, at a handful of subway stations this past summer in an effort to deter violence within the subway system.

The announcement drew skepticism from some riders and civil liberties groups, who argued it was neither feasible nor constitutional to scan millions of riders who enter the subway system through hundreds of entrances each day. Violent crime is rare in the system, though the announcement came on the back of two high-profile shooting incidents.

After Adams promised for months to make the results of the test public, the New York Police Department released a four-sentence statement Wednesday night noting it had performed 2,749 scans at 20 stations during the 30-day period. In total, there were 118 false positives — a rate of 4.29%.

The statement did not describe the length of time of each screening, how many officers were required to staff the devices or how many riders refused the searches. Inquiries to Evolv were not returned.

Earlier this month, a police spokesperson said they were still “evaluating the outcome of the pilot” and had not entered into any contract with Evolv.

Adams has touted the Massachusetts-based company since taking office in 2022. Before they were deployed in the subway system, the scanners were installed at a city-run hospital, and Adams said they would soon arrive in public schools.

Evolv has faced legal issues in recent years, including federal probes into its marketing practices led by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Earlier this year, investors filed a class-action lawsuit, accusing company executives of overstating the devices’ capabilities and claiming that “Evolv does not reliably detect knives or guns.”

In a statement Thursday, the Legal Aid Society said the results proved the program was “objectively a failure, no matter how hard City Hall tries to spin this data.”

“Given this failed pilot, all the other overwhelming evidence against using Evolv’s weapons detectors, and the surrounding controversies, including lawsuits and various investigations, we hope that this ill-conceived, fraught, and unwanted idea is finally shelved for good,” the statement said.