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NYC plans to use gun scanners in subway stations
NEW YORK (PIX11) --- New York City plans to use gun scanners to prevent weapons from entering the city's subway system in a new effort to make New Yorkers feel safe getting around the five boroughs, officials said.
The pilot program will put the new technology in some of the underground stations in response to the latest high-profile shootings and attacks in the transit system, according to Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban.
The city will first test the portable Evolv gun detectors, which are already used at Citi Field and some important Manhattan buildings, like the Met.
"It's clearly impressive when you're able to see how this technology is able to zero in on where a gun could potentially be carried," Adams said at a press briefing Thursday.
There's a 90-day waiting period before New Yorkers will see the scanners in the subway system, officials said. The machines will not have facial recognition ability.
The pilot program is the city's latest initiative to combat a spate of violent crimes at train stations, despite officials touting decreased crime rates in the transit system over the past two months.
Last week, the NYPD kicked off the "Fare Play" program to crack down on fare evaders. The department flooded the subway stations with 800 additional uniforms and plain-clothes officers.
Earlier this month, a 36-year-old man was shot four times with his own gun after picking a fight with a man on a Brooklyn subway, police said. An MTA conductor who was recently slashed in the neck in a Brooklyn subway station.