Education Week - April 26, 2023 - 15

seven so far.
It's not a foolproof system. Some
students managed to bypass scanners
by passing the guns through windows
or side doors their peers opened for
them, Applin said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools
installed Evolv scanners at its high
schools after finding a record 31 firearms
on students during the 2021-22
school year, Chief Operations Officer
Brian Schultz said.
" Coming out of COVID, we saw
increased physical aggression, increased
firearms, " he said. " This is a
problem around the country. "
The district's use of Evolv scanners
was the subject of an August
2022 investigation by Vice News,
which relied on 2,000 internal
emails to reveal problems with its
rollout. Officials at another school
district had warned CharlotteMecklenburg
administrators that it
had been able to pass a Glock handgun
through the scanners without
detection, Vice reported.
Administrators also complained of
long lines at the scanners, error messages,
and false alarms that detected
" weapons of mass instruction, " like
Chromebooks.
The process has improved in the
time since, Schultz told Education
Week. Administrators made videos
to show students how to pass
through the machines and to hand
off frequently flagged items like
umbrellas to supervising staff beforehand.
The
district has found four firearms
on students this school year, Schultz
said, although some were located
by word-of-mouth after students
brought them into school through
another entry point.
" Our students have become a lot
more vigilant about reporting those
kinds of things, " Schultz said. " Relationships
trump any system you
have. "
'No perfect solution'
Independent school safety consultants
warn about the effectiveness of
the scanners and have called for more
data about their effectiveness.
In November 2022, BBC News
reported that a private evaluation
of Evolv machines showed that, in
24 trial walkthroughs, they failed to
detect knives 42 percent of the time.
That detail was among those omitted
from a shorter version of the evaluation
that Evolv released publicly,
leading some attorneys to claim the
company had participated in deceptive
marketing tactics.
At EdWeek's request, Evolv initially
scheduled an interview with
one of its executives to respond to
questions about the technology. But
it later cancelled the call, citing a busy
travel schedule, and a spokesperson
responded to questions by email instead.
" There
is no perfect solution that
will create a completely sterile environment
and catch all weapons for
schools or any venue, " Anil Chitkara,
Evolv's co-founder and chief
growth officer said in an emailed
statement. " This is why a layered
approach of people, process, and
technology is used in security planning
and execution-and schools
are no different. "
Evolv acknowledged that its machines
flag some everyday items
that have the " composition and profile
of component parts " of weapons.
But, as the AI technology continues
to " learn " to better distinguish everyday
objects from weapons, the
company offers software updates to
its customers, Chitkara said. In the
fourth quarter of 2022, Evolv machines
around the country " tagged
nearly 70,000 weapons-including
36,000 guns and 33,000 knives, " he
wrote in the email.
The company also denied misleading
marketing. Evolv doesn't want
to provide a " blueprint " of vulnerabilities
to bad actors by revealing
too much, Chitkara said in the email
response.
While " public-facing marketing
materials are intentionally not specific, "
he said the company communicates
all " limitations and capabilities "
of the system with potential
customers.
Most district administrators who
spoke with EdWeek would not discuss
the settings they used on their
Evolv systems or possible error rates,
citing security concerns.
In Atlanta, Applin acknowledged
that no machine is perfect. The district,
like Charlotte-Mecklenburg,
also relies on student tiplines, security
cameras, and student awareness
campaigns to prevent violence
and determine if there are weapons
on campus.
" If someone wants to get something
into the building, they are going
to find a way to do it, " Applin said.
" We sometimes have the impression
that this is going to solve all of
our problems, but it doesn't work
that way, " he continued. " But when
I look at the results from last year to
this year ... we know that the numbers
[of gun reports] have been reduced
significantly. "
After the stabbing incident in Utica,
administrators determined a previous
superintendent had erred when
he told the school board the Evolv
system would detect all weapons, including
knives, said Nolan, the acting
superintendent.
The machines still in place in the
district's elementary and middle
schools are now turned up to the
highest sensitivity level in hopes
they will be more effective at finding
harmful objects. But that means
they also alarm on some benign
items, too, Nolan said. This year, a
mother called him to say her young
daughter was in tears after her
metal lunch box triggered an alarm
and a subsequent search.
AI systems may be a good solution
for schools in the future, after years of
development and refinement, Nolan
said. But for now, he's determined
they are not the right solution for
Utica.
" It's a tough situation when you
think about the money you are
spending, that it doesn't give you
the assurance of safety, " Nolan
said. " People who are considering it
should understand what it will and
won't do for you. "
EVOLV'S RESPONSE TO EDWEEK'S QUESTIONS
Evolv responded via email to Education Week's questions on
the technology. Here is the full response from Anil Chitkara, the
company's co-founder and chief growth officer.
Why are more schools considering weapons detection technology?
According to Education Week's school shooting tracker, 2022 ended with 51 school shootings
that resulted in injuries or death and at least 300 shooting incidents on school grounds. Beyond
those troubling statistics, we have heard from schools that they are experiencing an increase in
the number of firearms being brought to school.
Knowing that to mitigate risks, every second counts, as does the technology, people, and
processes in a layered security approach, one solution school districts are considering is weapons
screening.
On the increase in school districts using Evolv to detect weapons:
We are now in more than 400 school buildings across the country, including Manassas school
district, Wyoming Valley school district, Niagara Falls school district and Winnebago school
district.
Are there any differences between Evolv's applications in schools vs. other
environments, like sports arenas?
The Evolv Express system being used in schools is the same technology that is used by
customers in other industries, like sports stadiums and theme parks.
Each location is unique in their security needs, even from one school to another. We work with
each customer to determine how best to integrate our technology into their overall security plan.
Some schools are concerned that Evolv systems detect items like Chromebooks when
the sensitivity is turned up high enough to detect guns.
There are some everyday items that have the composition and profile of component parts of
threats we seek out; some Chromebooks fall into that category. Each school that considers our
technology understands this and determines whether the system is the right addition to their
security plan.
It's important to understand that our advanced threat detection continues to learn and
become better at distinguishing weapons through AI technology. Evolv then provides those
improvements via a software release available to all subscribers. Our customers determine when
they upgrade the software.
Some schools have expressed concerns about systems not detecting knives:
Our customers used Evolv Express to tag over 176,000 weapons in 2022-including 93,000
guns and 83,000 knives. In the fourth quarter alone, they tagged nearly 70,000 weapons-
including 36,000 guns and 33,000 knives. That's an average of about 400 guns every single day.
There is no perfect solution that will create a completely sterile environment and catch all
weapons for schools or any venue. This is why a layered approach of people, process, and
technology is used in security planning and execution-and schools are no different.
Evolv's response to the BBC investigation into the systems and subsequent
announcements by law firms about possible lawsuits:
Evolv Express systems are designed to detect various types of weapons, and components of
weapons, that could cause mass harm, not items that are readily available within schools. There
is no perfect solution that will stop 100 percent of threats, including ours, which is why security
must include a layered approach that involves people, process, and technology.
The best technology is transparent as to what it does without disclosing a " blueprint " to a
bad actor that could use it to do harm. Those in charge of keeping buildings safe must assume
that bad actors are always looking for ways to circumvent the security processes in place. It is
devastating that this concept even applies to schools, but it must.
This is a best practice well known in the security industry, notably the TSA. The TSA carefully
guards Sensitive Security Information (SSI) to keep the public safe. SSI is information that,
if publicly released, would be detrimental to transportation security, as defined by Federal
Regulation 49 C.F.R. Part 1520.
Marketing weapons detection security requires a delicate balance between educating
stakeholders on new technology and not providing bad actors with the information they could
use to do harm. So, while public-facing marketing materials are intentionally not specific, we
communicate all aspects of the Evolv Express system-including limitations and capabilities-
with the trusted security professionals at our customers, partners, and prospects.
If you have any questions about specific lawsuits, we can direct you to our legal team.
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Education Week - April 26, 2023

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