CHARLOTTE, NC – More schools across the country are installing AI-powered metal detectors, often spending millions to address concerns and strengthen buildings.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) school district has been using the technology in their schools for more than a year and said it seems to deter students from bringing guns — and in the rare instance of someone bringing a gun, the system seems to work .
“On the first day of deployment, a firearm was found through the Evolv system. On the very first day, it was in a student’s backpack,” said Brian Schultz, CMS Chief Operations Officer.
The detectors aren’t cheap, and the district said it spent about $19 million for four years of service.
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In 2022, CMS began using the cameras and metal detectors to detect weapons such as pistols and knives before they reach campus. (Fox news)
The school district began using Evolv Technology cameras and metal detectors in 2022 to detect weapons such as guns and knives before they reach campus.
The technology uses advanced sensors and AI to guide students through the detectors at a normal pace. If a threat is detected, that person will be pulled over for a bag search.
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“We have a large data set and it’s proven to be very successful in our district,” Schultz said.
Schultz said 31 guns were found on CMS campuses during the 2021-22 school year, but last year — the first full year with the Evolv products — that number dropped significantly to seven.
Nationally, the Gun Violence Archive reported that about 850 guns were found in U.S. schools last school year, about 250 more than the year before.
During the 2021-2022 school year, 31 guns were found on CMS campuses. Last year there were only seven with the new technology. (Fox news)
“Traditional metal detectors were really time consuming, everyone would have to get everything out of their backpack, and the process of getting people through was really quite long,” said Jason Russell, founder of Secure Education Consultants, a company made up of of former Secret Service agents helping schools and businesses across the country improve security.
November data from the U.S. Department of Education showed that at least 14% of middle schools, 7% of high schools, and 3% of elementary schools nationwide use metal detectors.
“I don’t like the way it is. I don’t like standing here talking to you, talking about guns in schools,” Schultz said.
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The U.S. Department of Education found in November that at least 14% of middle schools, 7% of high schools and 3% of elementary schools use metal detectors. (Fox news)
While CMS and Secure Education Consultants said gun detectors are a great tool, they both agreed that they can’t just be a form of prevention. Of the seven guns found on CMS campuses last school year, one was called in by a fellow student.
“That (student) was in a relationship with a teacher who felt comfortable reporting that to the teacher,” Schultz said.
Global Courant
According to Evolv, its technology can be found in schools in 34 states screening hundreds of thousands of students every day, and interest is growing rapidly.
The company has recently partnered with some of the larger school districts, such as the Dekalb County School District in Georgia, the Baltimore City School District in Maryland, and the Douglas County School District in Colorado.
Austin Westfall joined FOX News in 2021 as a multimedia reporter based in Charlotte.
North Carolina School District Installs AI-Controlled Metal Detectors: ‘Proven Very Successful’
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