Flaws found in weapons detection system in metro Atlanta schools

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - An Atlanta News First investigation has uncovered flaws in a weapons detection system currently being used in Atlanta Public Schools (APS) that has also been approved in the DeKalb County School District (DCSD).

The weapons detection system is called Evolv, and is manufactured by Massachusetts-based Evolv Technologies. According to a private report Evolv commissioned and Atlanta News First Investigates obtained, Evolv failed to detect four out of every 10 knives during a 2021 field test at an Ohio sports venue.

Evolv’s shortcomings

This past January, Atlanta Public Schools invited reporters to see its latest safety feature in action: touchless body scanners. The district had just invested $2.6 million to install Evolv weapon detection systems in all its middle and high schools.

Using artificial intelligence, Evolv screens students walking through its towers, without making them unpack their bookbags or remove their shoes. Students are searched only if a sensor is triggered, and the light turns red.

Evolv’s CEO Peter George made the rounds to multiple networks in 2021 and 2022, describing the new product.

“They know that they’re safe. Safe from all kinds of threats; guns and bombs and knives and bad people,” George told Fox Business in 2022.

“The magic is in our threat detection software that allows us to find any kind of concealed weapon,” George told TD Ameritrade Network in 2021.

The problem, Evolv does not detect “any” kind of concealed weapon.

Read the private report Evolv didn't want you to see.

A 2021 field test in Ohio revealed safety flaws including a “micro-compact pistol” not being flagged on two walkthroughs and “multiple knives of different types and kinds” going undetected in 10 of 24 walkthroughs.

One year after that field test, a knife got through an Evolv weapons detection system in Utica, New York, and a student was stabbed multiple times.

Following the incident, the interim superintendent pushed the local board of education to remove the system altogether.

“It’s not a reliable system for detecting knives,” said Brian Nolan, interim superintendent of the Utica City School District, in November 2022. “And it’s not adequate or practical for school use.”

“It’s not a reliable system for detecting knives." Watch what else the Utica Superintendent said.

Atlanta News First Investigates shared these findings with APS parents and students, who were surprised and disappointed.

“That’s not a weapon detection system, in my opinion,” parent Jennifer Gilbert said, while another parent, Melanie Greene, added, “It should detect everything and if it does not, then it clearly is not a weapon detection system.”

“What would you think a weapons detection system would detect?” Atlanta News First Investigates asked.

“Guns, knives, anything that can harm students,” student Roseanna Gilbert replied.

Evolv responds

Evolv isn’t refuting the 2021 Ohio field test’s results, but the company said its system has undergone “extensive upgrades since that time.”

When asked if the system can now detect knives more consistently, Jill Lemond, Evolv’s education director, said, “I don’t know if I’m comfortable answering that without a technology background. I’m really more an education person. I do know we’re constantly working to be better at detecting at all types of weapons, and parts and pieces of those weapons.”

“But is it safe to say that Evolv cannot detect any and all weapons?” Atlanta News First Investigates asked.

“I think it’s safe to say that nothing is foolproof, and nothing is perfect,” Lemond answered.

An APS spokesperson said Evolv did not make the school system aware of the field test, nor did the company disclose its weapons detection system does not detect all knives.

Lemond said she didn’t know why that information was not shared with APS.

“I wasn’t involved personally in that deal,” Lemond said. “I’m not comfortable speaking to it. We try to be absolutely transparent with our customers.”

Lemond went on to say that Evolv systems detected and stopped more than 176,000 weapons in 2022 – including 90,000 guns and 80,000 knives.

Despite Evolv’s limitations, an APS spokesperson insists the district has been “pleased with the addition of the Evolv weapon detection systems,” adding that its “served as an aid and a deterrent in our safety protocols.”

“We were just stunned at the level of deception,” Conor Healy, director of government research at security and surveillance research group IPVM, said. IPVM was first to obtain the 2021 field test results.

Healy believes Evolv’s problems go beyond the field test. He points to the company recently changing its marketing language from “weapons free zones” to “safer zones.”

"We were just stunned at the level of deception." Evolv changes its marketing language from 'weapons free zones' to 'safer zones.'

“Until very recently, if you went on to Evolv’s website or if you Googled Evolv, the first thing you would see is ‘weapons free zones,’ that the mission of Evolv is to create ‘weapons free zones,’” Healy said. “That marketing is all being scrubbed from the internet now. Then, it said ‘safe zones’ as opposed to ‘weapons free zones.’ And then recently again, it was changed from ‘safe zones’ to ‘safer zones.’

“That change in marketing tells you there has been misconceptions widely about what exactly this technology does, and the company was not forthcoming about them,” he said.

In March, the DeKalb County Board of Education approved a four-year, $8-million contract with Evolv to put its system in all middle and high schools.

A DCSD spokesperson said the district is aware of the system’s limitations but chose Evolv “because of its weapons detection abilities, overall cost-effectiveness, ease of use by school personnel with minimal training, ability to cover large areas and scan multiple individuals simultaneously, and continuous technical support and system upgrades.”

Evolv isn’t just used in schools. The system is also being used at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the Georgia Aquarium.

ANF+ BEHIND THE INVESTIGATION: Flaws found in weapons detection system in metro Atlanta schools

If there’s something you would like Atlanta News First Investigator Rachel Polansky to dig into, email her directly at Rachel.Polansky@wanf.com.

Copyright 2023 WANF. All rights reserved.