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7 months ago
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Mayor Eric Adams has announced a new initiative placing AI-powered gun-detector scanners in subway stations amid a slew of reports of violence on the city's transport system.
The pilot is the latest in a series of moves by the Mayor's office and the NYPD to reassure the public after a run of high profile stabbings, a shooting and other crimes on the network in recent months.
The initiative will see portable Evolv gun detectors placed in select underground locations in an attempt to catch those travelling with weapons.
EVOLV uses AI technology to detect weapons and counts the Met and Lincoln Center among its clients.
'If EVOLV had a 70 percent hit ratio, that's 70 percent more than now' Adams said at a press conference on Thursday.
Mayor Eric Adams has announced a new initiative placing AI-powered gun-detector scanners in subway stations
EVOLV uses AI technology to detect weapons but will not be available for at least another 90 days as the technology undergoes testing
It comes just weeks after the National Guard were also deployed onto the system in the wake of a series of high profile attacks including shootings and stabbings
'This is a Sputnik moment. President Kennedy said let's put a man on the moon and everyone responded,' he added in a bold comparison.
The system pilot may take some time before New Yorkers see the scanners on their commute.
First the technology must be tested and then undergo a 90-day waiting period for evaluation, Adams explained.
Earlier this month National Guard troops were deployed onto the subway system in an effort to make travellers feel safer.
'Public safety is the actual safety and it's how people are feeling,' Adams said at Thursday's briefing.
'We know we have over 4 million riders a day and a reliable system. We know we have approximately six felonies a day out of those 4 million riders' he said.
Adding: 'But if they don't feel safe, then we're not accomplishing our task. Stats don't matter if people don't believe they are in a safe environment.'
As of Thursday, police officers have seized a total of 450 weapons, including 21 illegal guns on the subway system this year, according to Mayor Adams' administration.
Earlier this month National Guard troops were deployed onto the subway system in an effort to make travellers feel safer
A harrowing video reveals the moments leading up to a New York City subway shooting, where the agitator accuses another man of a being a 'migrant beating up cops' in a heated argument
The 36-year-old man, who appeared to initiate the argument, was shot in the head with his own gun after the other man, 32, wrestled the weapon away from him and opened fire
In separate footage from after shots were fired, a train car's full of people were seen cowering in fear and pleading for the subway to pull away from the crime
The NYPD also seized 1,515 weapons in the subway system in 2023, including 1,470 cutting instruments and 45 illegal firearms.
The numbers reflect a marked increase from the previous year, when 947 total weapons were seized, including 912 cutting instruments and 35 guns.
There have been three homicides on the rails to start the year, compared to none at this point last year.
However, officials said subway crime is down 15 percent so far in March compared with the same time last year.
Despite this high profile crimes continue to shock the city.
Just last week a 24-year-old man pushed a 54-year-old man into the path of an incoming train in East Harlem.
A subway conductor was also slashed in the neck last month and a 35-year-old was shot in the subway in the Bronx last month.
Also earlier this month was a fatal shooting on an A train after a fight broke out between two men and the agitator ended up being shot in the head with his own gun.
The 36-year-old man who was shot accused the other man of being a 'migrant beating up cops' in furious scenes while other passengers scrambled to get away.
He was then stabbed and shot in the head with his own handgun by the other man, 32, after it was wrestled away from him in the melee on a Brooklyn train.
In separate footage from after shots were fired, a train car's full of people were seen cowering in fear and pleading for the subway to pull away from the crime.
'Where's the NYPD, oh my God!' one woman exclaimed as others said, 'close the door, close the door!'
The wild scenes also included the suspected gunman's 32-year-old female companion, who appeared to whip out a knife from her pocket and stab the other man in the back multiple times.
English (US)