Tipsheet

NYC Tests 'Another Fake Solution' to Address Subway Crime Problem

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  April 01, 2024 9:00 AM

Amid growing concerns about public safety in the Big Apple, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced last week that officials will carry out a gun scanner pilot program to boost confidence in the safety of the public transit system.  

“We are taking the next step forward in our ongoing efforts to make our subways even safer and ensure New Yorkers feel safer,” Adams said at a news conference. 

The portable gun scanners will be introduced in some stations after a 90-day waiting period. 

The new technology will be introduced in partnership with Evolv Technology, a Massachusetts start-up, Mr. Adams said.

The city has no contract with Evolv, and the announcement was meant to be an open call to any firm with similar products, a city spokeswoman said, clarifying the mayor’s earlier comments. 

In 2022, Evolv expressed concerns to City Hall that its technology could cause bottlenecks if used in the subway system, according to a person involved in the discussions.

“What I know about technology is the first version continues to get better,” Mr. Adams said in response to questions from reporters on Thursday.

Evolv’s devices look like the metal detectors often found at courthouses and baseball stadiums. The company says that the devices are programmed with the “signatures” of certain items, which allows them to detect weapons. […]

At the news conference on Thursday, the mayor also announced that the city would soon begin hiring clinicians as part of a $20 million investment from the state to deploy teams of mental health workers in the subway system.

Mr. Adams stressed that the chances of being victimized in the subway were remote.

There are approximately six felonies each day in the city’s subway system, which averages four million daily riders, Mr. Adams said, but “if they don’t feel safe, we are not accomplishing our task.”

Overall, crimes in the subway are up 4 percent so far this year compared with the same period last year, police data shows. There were five homicides in the system last year, down from 10 the previous year. (NYT)

“Random acts of violence play on the psyche of New York,” Adams said. “We are going to evolve in a way to ensure that technology becomes part of the public safety apparatus.”  

The announcement comes after hundreds of National Guard troops and other law enforcement officers were deployed to the subway system earlier this month. 

Recommended

Watch Scott Jennings Slap Down This Shoddy Talking Point About the Spending Bill Matt Vespa
Biden Was Too 'Mentally Fatigued' to Take Call From Top Committee Chair Before Afghanistan Withdrawal Sarah Arnold

As X account End Wokeness put it, "They would rather do all this than lock up the damn criminals and close the border."

Conservative commentator Ann Coulter explained why it's bound to fail. 

"Another fake 'solution' to crime on NYC subway: 'gun sensors'!  But these aren't gun sensors - they are full stadium/airport security screening machines. <<Evolv’s devices look like the metal detectors often found at courthouses and baseball stadiums.>> Every day, JFK and LGA - combined - screen about 100,000 passengers.  Guess how many people ride the NYC subway every day? 3.2 MILLION. Yes, this will 'work' by emptying the subways of any human beings, so there's no one there to rape or murder. Nothing works except locking up criminals."