New York City has officially deployed a metal detector powered by artificial intelligence in a bid to catch people carrying guns onto the subway system — and the program is already facing the threat of litigation by groups concerned by the implications for New Yorkers’ civil liberties.
Mayor Eric Adams on July 26 announced the long-promised rollout of gun detection scanners manufactured by Evolv Technology for a 30-day pilot in the subway system. Not everyone will be required to go through the scanner — Hizzoner said it “could be every fifth, 10th, or 20th person” randomly selected for scrutiny — but those selected will have to go through the scanner if they want to enter the subway system where the tech is deployed.
“I want to be clear on this, we’re going to protect our riders,” Hizzoner said at the Fulton Center subway hub in Lower Manhattan on Friday. “This is to add on to and leverage technology to prevent shootings in our subways, and this is about preventing mass casualty incidents.”
The mayor first floated deploying metal detectors on the subway following the 2022 mass shooting on an N train in Brooklyn, and first demonstrated Evolv’s scanners — which are also in use at various stadiums, concert venues, and museums across the country — back in March.
The scanner was removed from Fulton Center following the mayor’s press conference on Friday; spokespersons for the MTA, NYPD, and City Hall would not say where it had been taken. An Adams spokesperson said that the single Evolv scanner will be moved to different stops around the city over the next 30 days, and the location won’t be announced ahead of time in a bid to keep those packing heat on their toes.
Hizzoner, a self-described tech geek, has previously said the tech may be deployed in areas that record high volumes of gunshots detected by ShotSpotter, another piece of tech used all around the city that is known for high rates of false positives.
The mayor said he suspects that subway riders, if told the purpose of the scanners, would be supportive of them.
“If you would speak to the average subway rider, they would state they don’t want guns on their system,” said Hizzoner. “If it means using scanners, then bring the scanners on.”
What do the riders think?
At Fulton Center, Brooklyn resident TJ Valente said he didn’t see the metal detectors as cumbersome, but wondered if it came at the cost of civil liberties.
“I don’t see why it would be that much of an inconvenience for me to do. And it would make things safer,” said Valente. “But do we compromise some of our privacy for freedom, it’s always the question, right?”
Others, though, see the device as security theater, especially when subway crime is just a small fraction of crime that occurs on the street.
“I’ve been taking the subway every day of my life, okay. Maybe God is on my side, I don’t even know, but all I do know is there hasn’t been any issues,” said Staten Islander Audra Morales. “I take it in the morning, I take different trains, I take it at night, on different days. Nothing has happened. This false narrative has got to stop.”
Hizzoner has frequently invoked New Yorkers’ “perception” of the subways as dangerous in a bid to ramp up law enforcement presence in the system. Adams has deployed thousands of additional NYPD cops into the system and utilized other newfangled tech in a bid to reduce anxiety in the system — such as a 400-pound robot that had to be accompanied by officers at all times during its tour in Times Square, and was quietly retired after a few months in service.
There’s also lingering concerns both over the Evolv devices’ efficacy at detecting guns, and potential violations of straphangers’ constitutional rights.
In a previous test of Evolv’s scanners at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, over 85% of alarms triggered by the scanners turned out to be false positives. The scanners have also previously failed to distinguish between handguns and laptops, specifically Google’s Chromebooks due to the shape of that computer’s hinges, Vice reported.
The company has been sued by a high school student in upstate Utica after a scanner failed to catch a knife that was later used to stab him. It also faces separate regulatory inquiries from the Federal Trade Commission and Securities & Exchange Commission over concerns the tech isn’t as accurate as the company claims, plus a similar lawsuit from investors.
Evolv’s CEO, Peter George, previously said in an investor call that the subway is “not a place that we think is a good use case for us.”
Now, civil liberties groups are threatening legal action against the Adams administration over the scanners’ deployment.
“With this misguided, fraught, and invasive technology now in effect, we are in the process of preparing litigation to protect the constitutional rights of all New Yorkers,” said the Legal Aid Society and New York Civil Liberties Union in a joint statement. “New Yorkers did not consent to give up their rights or be NYPD guinea pigs for over-hyped and error-prone surveillance tech. We are prepared to protect the right of all subway riders to be free from NYPD intrusion and harassment.”
Steve Martinez, a Nassau County resident, said he felt it would be an invasion of privacy to be subject to be subject to a search over a false alarm.
“I don’t want to have an unnecessary encounter or be illegally searched,” said Martinez. “Or be subject to a search as I’m going about my business.”
As for the specter of people bringing guns on the train, that’s of far less immediate concern to him.
“It’s in the back of your mind,” said Martinez. “But, you know, so are sharks in the ocean.”
