By the beginning of the summer, New York City subway riders will be passing through high-tech gun detectors to enter the transit system, Mayor Eric Adams announced Thursday.
Speaking at the Fulton St. train station in lower Manhattan, Adams announced the beginning of a 90-day period in which the city will seek comments and put together a plan to bring gun detection technology to the transit system.
Adams called his announcement “the next step in our ongoing efforts to keep dangerous weapons out of our transit system.”
At the same time, the city will be increasing its assistance to commuters suffering from a mental crisis by expanding its Subway Co-Response Outreach Teams, a pilot program where medical professionals provide help to people who need treatment for severe mental illness, Adams said.
To showcase their plan, the NYPD and Adams showed how products from one of the gun detection companies, Evolv, works. After walking through the scanner, a three-second scan will determine if a commuter has a firearm on them.
Cops are only allowed to search the area the computer highlighted, officials said.
Adams and his team said they are not locked into using Evolv if a better company comes along in the next 90 days.
Evolv’s technology has been criticized for picking up other items besides firearms, like umbrellas. Some stakeholders in the company also donated a combined $1 million to Adams mayoral campaign.
Without any gun detection technology, the NYPD has already collected 21 guns from straphangers as they tamp down an increase in shootings and violence on the rails.
Earlier this week, the NYPD assigned 800 more officers to the subway system to crack down on fare evasion and reduce crime in the system.
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