The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will launch a new tool to combat crime in transportation as early as this Friday.
Mayor Eric Adams had announced that metal detectors would be installed in subway stations in the coming days.
In a radio interview Wednesday, Adams said the detectors will be used to identify when someone tries to enter the transit system with a firearm.
He added that these devices can also be programmed to detect other types of weapons.
This was confirmed by the system’s developers. The detectors are calibrated to detect firearms, but could be modified to detect other weapons.
As of July 17, 38 guns had been confiscated, according to NYPD Traffic Chief Michael Kemper. That’s 19 more guns than were confiscated last year.
Some subway riders said the move was a good idea, but Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a privacy watchdog and anti-government hyper-surveillance campaigner, said commuters should be outraged.
“Everyone thinks the sales pitch is fantastic. It’s the reality that will infuriate New Yorkers,” Cahn said.
Cahn called the detectors nothing more than a high-tech gimmick. He said independent studies show that Evolv’s detector cannot tell the difference between a laptop or an umbrella and a gun.
He added that we should not finance these companies, much less keep them in the subway.
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Evolv, for its part, faces a lawsuit from its shareholders.
They say the company has exaggerated its ability to detect weapons.
Travelers will not have to stop to be scanned and everyone will be automatically screened.
The pilot program will begin at a select number of stations and the results will be analyzed by the city and the MTA.
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