Evolv gun detection tech rolling out in NYC subway stations this week

New and controversial weapons detection technology is set to roll out in some subway stations later this week, Mayor Eric Adams announced on Tuesday.

After teasing the deployment of weapons detection scanners made by the company Evolv last week – and following a mandatory 90-day wait period before introducing new NYPD surveillance technology – Adams said that the scanners are set to be introduced either this Thursday or Friday. “I am telling them they need to evolve and get it out, because I think it’s good technology,” Adams said with a laugh at his weekly press availability on Tuesday. “I’m really excited about this, just the potentiality that we could identify someone carrying a gun before they enter the system.”

Evolv’s scanners will be part of a pilot program to see how the technology performs in the subway – part of a larger strategy to crack down on crime in the system. Evolv’s technology, demonstrated at a press conference in a subway station in March, claims to use “advanced sensor technology and artificial intelligence” to detect concealed weapons. But the company and its claims about its technology have been the subject of scrutiny by federal regulators and multiple lawsuits over the last year, as City & State previously reported. 

Adams said that there have been “several thousand tests” of Evolv, but City Hall did not provide additional information about the testing. “I like the results from the testing,” he said Tuesday. “I think this is going to become a norm for us. I think the turnstiles are going to change. And eventually, every turnstile is going to be able to identify if someone is carrying a gun.” (As demonstrated in March, Evolv’s scanners are not actually connected to the turnstiles.)

After the March press conference at which Evolv’s scanners were demonstrated, spokespeople for Adams said that demonstrating the technology didn’t mean the city had agreed to put Evolv’s tool in the subway system. “We are conducting outreach to several tech companies and the mayor even said yesterday that the point of this presser is to get the word out,” a mayoral spokesperson said at the time. “We want tech companies to reach out to us as well if they have a product they think could be helpful here.”

As the city now appears to be proceeding with deploying Evolv in some stations – City Hall did not confirm which – Adams said that the idea is still for other companies to participate in the pilot program. “We are opening the universe to whomever can produce the technology we’re looking for. So we’re not choosing,” he said. “This is going to be a pilot, and we’re going to test to see how it is.”