Spotsylvania considering new weapons technology detection system for schools
Spotsylvania County could soon install new technology to scan students for weapons at its schools.
The School Board plans to consider a contract with Massachusetts-based Evolv, a self-described leader in artificial intelligence-based weapons detection for security screening.
The school board will address the proposed contract at its Monday meeting. The school board meetings are held at 8020 River Stone Drive. Residents can attend the meeting, which starts at 5:30 p.m., or watch it online.
The potential move to using the scanner technology comes on the heels of the school board approving the use of AI tracking technology on school devices and networks.
That technology, Lightspeed Alert, utilizes AI to monitor "students' online activity within school buildings and network for signs of self-harm, violence, and bullying," according to an email the school system sent parents in October.
The monitoring system tracks school-owned devices and personal devices on the school system's network.
With the new measure, the school system wants to install Evolv's weapons detection systems at five high schools, the career and technology center and John J. Wright Educational & Cultural Center.
Installing the scanners at the seven facilities will cost an estimated $1.2 million, according to the staff report on the proposal.
According to Evolv, its scanners work differently than traditional metal detectors.
The scanners use sensors, artificial intelligence software and cloud services to detect guns, improvised explosives and knives. The scanners bypass such things as cellphones and keys, which can set off metal detectors.
The Evolv system is supposed to be more efficient and effective than metal detectors. Evolv claims its scanners screen faster than other detection systems and at much lower costs.
The company and its technology has garnered accolades and controversy since introducing its screening technology in 2019.
Earlier this year, Evolv was among various security companies to receive an award from Campus Security Today. Evolv earned a platinum award for its screening equipment.
According to Stock Titan, an online investor news site, the award "recognizes Evolv Technology's advanced AI-based weapons detection systems used in over 800 U.S. schools and 750 other global customer sites."
The Stock Titan report added that "Evolv's technology is widely deployed in various settings and has screened over 1 billion people since 2019."
On the flip side, there are dark clouds hovering over Evolv that raise a host of questions.
In October, reports arose about an investigation of Evolv employee misconduct regarding sales and marketing practices. The internal investigation is focused on the impact to financial reports by the company between the second quarter of 2022 and 2024, which were deemed unreliable.
On Oct. 31, MarketWatch reported that Evolv announced the termination of its Chief Executive Officer Peter George, a move related to the internal investigations. The company reported that $4 million to $6 million in revenue "was prematurely or incorrectly recognized," according to MarketWatch.
The internal investigation was reported to the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission, which is looking into the matter.
Major concerns also have been raised about Evolv's AI-powered scanners and whether they do the job.
Evolv scanners were used in a pilot program this summer inside New York City subway stations. According to police data, the scanners failed to detect any passengers with firearms and produced more than 100 false alerts during a one-month test.
Problems with Evolv don't end with the two above situations.
The company also faces probes into its marketing practices by the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission and an investor class-action lawsuit accusing the company of overstating the reliability of the scanners to detect knives and guns.
The lawsuit was filed in March in the United States District Court District of Massachusetts and focuses on a period between 2021 and 2024.
On Wednesday, law firm Levi & Korsinsky notified Evolv investors it was investigating the company "concerning possible violations of federal securities laws" and that it was seeking plaintiffs as part of the class action lawsuit.
According to the class action suit, the plaintiffs are looking "to recover compensable damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 'Exchange Act')."
The plaintiff quotes Evolv's description of the company as a "leader in Artificial Intelligence ('AI')-based weapons detection for security screening. Our mission is to make the world a safer and more enjoyable place to live, work, learn, and play. We are democratizing security by making it seamless for facility operators to address the chronic epidemic of escalating gun violence, mass shootings and terrorist attacks in a cost-effective manner while improving the visitor experience."
The defendants — citing SEC filings, annual reports, blog posts, press releases and television news interviews — describe a distrustful company and a system they allege doesn't detect the weapons as Evolv claims.
The lawsuit alleges that top company officials "recklessly disregarded the fact that the false and misleading statements were being issued concerning the Company," violating federal securities laws.
The plaintiffs claim Evolv officials "knew that its products were ineffective at detecting weapons, including knives and certain types of firearms. Further, the Company had taken significant action to make it appear that its products were effective, including manipulating test results."
The lawsuit cites a report on Evolv by the Internet Protocol Video Market, a research group that was founded in 2008 by John Honovich to focus in part on marketing claims by the surveillance industry.
The research group reported disturbing allegations about Evolv security systems.
In the lawsuit, IPVM director of government research Conor Healy said the company has exaggerated the effectiveness of its systems and warned about the consequences of those claims.
"There's an epidemic of schools buying new technology based on audacious marketing claims, then finding out it has hidden flaws, often millions of dollars later," the lawsuit quotes Healy saying in a BBC report. "Evolv is one of the worst offenders. School officials are not technical experts on weapons detection, and companies like Evolv profit from their ignorance."
The IPVM report alleges that Evolv's system "failed to meet testing criteria for detection of micro-compact pistols," which metal detectors alert to "virtually 100% of the time."
The report also noted testing struggles with the Evolv Express system, which earned the campus security award, in detecting knives. The system alerted to knives at only a 53% rate, according to the report.
The research group said the knife detection testing information along with other test findings were deleted from a public report by Evolv staff.
The lawsuit cites other instances of Evolv employees manipulating testing data and system failures, including a 2023 BBC report about a student stabbed inside Utica, New York's Proctor High School, which used Evolv scanners. The knife used in the attack was longer than nine inches but was not detected.
The New York school system investigated the incident and determined the scanners were "not designed to detect knives," according to the lawsuit. The high school removed the scanners and replaced them with metal detectors.
Following the Proctor High School attack, there were three more stabbings at schools with Evolv scanners in the same New York district, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs claim that "Evolv has fought, for years, to hide these very fundamental facts, claiming that publicizing such information, rather than the fundamental flaws of the product Evolv sells, would harm the public."
Evolv and the other defendants have until Jan. 27 to respond to the plaintiff's lawsuit.
Scott Shenk:
Transportation and Spotsylvania County government and schools
