NYPD to test scanners with AI tech to crack down on guns in NYC subway

The NYPD plans to test metal detectors equipped with artificial intelligence technology in subway stations in a move to keep guns out of New York City's transit system, Mayor Eric Adams announced on Tuesday.

“This is our Sputnik moment,” Adams said at a news conference at Fulton Transit Center in Lower Manhattan. “Like when Kennedy said we’re going to put a man on the moon. ... Let’s bring on the scanners.”

Adams displayed scanners manufactured by Evolv, a Massachusetts-based weapons detection company that announced last month it was being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, following an October disclosure that it was being examined by the Federal Trade Commission. The company's share price dropped after it announced the SEC investigation, which prompted a lawsuitfrom its shareholders this month, alleging the company had misled investors about its technology's effectiveness.

The announcement came as four killings have been reported in the subway so far this year, just shy of the five reported in all of 2023. It also followed New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's move to deploy 750 National Guard soldiers into the subway system, alongside MTA and state police, to help NYPD officers check riders’ bags. The department deployed 800 additional uniformed and plainclothes officers earlier this week at what it called “strategic” subway stations to crack down on fare beating as part of an initiative dubbed "Operation Fare Play."

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