The new system, called Evolv Express, is placed at entrances to schools and uses artificial intelligence to detect weapons students may have on them. A video feed on iPads shows everyone walking in, and if a weapon is detected, the system will beep and draw a red box around where the weapon might be. The student would be pulled to the side for staff to conduct a search. Each entrance will have two detectors, and each detector will be staffed by two people — a mix of school resource officers, administrators and other staff.
At a demonstration of the new technology at Columbia High School on Thursday, Executive Director of Public Safety Bradley Gober said the system was the most effective, least invasive choice for DeKalb. It’s also used by Atlanta Public Schools.
“We wanted to make sure our students did not feel institutionalized, and they were able to keep their dignity while coming into school,” he said.
Some school systems have criticized Evolv after finding that it struggled to detect knives or mistook laptops or water bottles for weapons. Gober said he expects the first weeks of school to pose a learning curve, as students and staff gauge how sensitive the system is. Students may have to adjust behavior by carrying laptops in their hands as they come into the buildings. The system will update multiple times throughout the year, and should get “smarter” as time goes on, Gober said.
Additionally, all staff in DeKalb schools will have crisis alert badges that will allow them to trigger a lockdown in an emergency and notify law enforcement and school and district administrators in a matter of seconds. Lights will flash and a message will come up on teachers’ computer screens to notify everyone of an emergency. The badges from Centegix are used in most other metro Atlanta school districts, including Gwinnett this year.
“We have many approaches to safety, and we want to make sure that we provide a safe climate for our students to learn in,” Gober said Thursday. “And part of that is making sure that they feel safe and that teachers feel safe when they’re at school.”
The district will spend $8 million over four years for the weapons detection system, and $3.9 million over three years for the alert badges.
©2023 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
