New York City is set to begin rolling out artificial intelligence-powered metal detectors at subway turnstiles in the “next few days,” Mayor Eric Adams said on Wednesday.
Hizzoner said that the devices, intended to specifically detect guns people try to bring onto the subway using AI, will start rolling out “in a few locations” soon, following “thousands of tests” on the efficacy of the scanners produced by Evolv Technology.
“We are going to be implementing and rolling it out in a few locations,” the mayor said at a July 17 press conference in Lower Manhattan, where he touted decreases in subway crime. “They did thousands of tests, thousands, to gauge the success of it. We’re extremely impressed with the outcome.”
Neither the mayor nor spokespersons for City Hall would say when exactly the rollout would start, nor to which stations the scanners will be deployed.
The deployment scope also remains unclear; the mayor said the administration will promulgate rules on the scanners’ usage, including whether every person entering the system must walk through the metal detector before passing through the turnstiles.
“We’re gonna lay out how it’s going to be done, you are going to be advised well ahead of time, you’re not gonna wake up one day and see Evolv at the turnstile,” said Adams. “We’re gonna lay out exactly what methodologies we’re gonna use to make sure we prevent guns on our subway system.”
A person cannot be forced to go through the scanner per se, but police would be able to prevent refuseniks from entering the subway system, at least at that turnstile.
NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper said paperwork has been filed certifying that the Police Department complied with the 2020 POST Act, which requires a 90-day public comment period for law enforcement’s deployment of any surveillance technology. The mayor and NYPD first demonstrated the tech to the public back in March.
Questions have abounded about the efficacy of the technology, which is also in use at the likes of Citi Field: during a 2022 pilot demonstration at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, 85% of alarms triggered by the scanners were determined to be false positives. Just weeks before Adams showed off the scanners to reporters, Evolv’s CEO Peter George told investors that the subways are “not a place that we think is a good use case for us.”
In part because of that, the mayor said the city is not deadset on handing a hefty scanner contract to Evolv, preferring to test the waters even as he remains steadfast in support of the concept.
“It’s extremely difficult to do this in an environment like a subway system that is below grade,” said Adams. “So it’s going to really push folks to produce a good product. And so we’re excited about it.”
How do the riders feel?
Hizzoner said he suspected “the average passenger” would be pleased with the announcement about the metal detectors. But riders amNewYork Metro spoke to at Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station, right outside the mayor’s front door, did not seem particularly enthused.
“If there was a way to figure out if people had weapons other than putting metal detectors, I would say that’s a better option, and maybe not go for it,” said Randy Balan, a former New Yorker who now lives in California. “Because you know, now you’re gonna delay the line, because when you have metal detectors, that means you pretty much can’t carry anything else.”
Brooklynite Rose Courteau said she would prefer broad gun control over “militarizing the subway” and “unnecessary force and surveillance into the subways,” and fears the tech would be used for more than just finding guns.
“I think it would be better to focus on gun control instead of spending money on militarizing the subway. Meanwhile, we keep raising fares and bringing more cops into the stations and going after turnstile jumpers, I feel that’s a real misuse,” said Courteau. “If you’re not causing problems you shouldn’t be stopped and searched, and your belongings shouldn’t be gone through.”
Bronxite Ryan, who declined to give his last name, also described it as a “further militarization of our transportation system,” and said he would feel “harassed” if a metal detector stopped him when he was not packing heat.
“Not only would I feel targeted and harassed,” said Ryan. “I’d feel it was an absolute waste of my tax money.”
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