At the start of this school year, Onslow County high schools debut a new weapons detection system.
On Monday, Onslow County high schoolers will walk through Evolv Technology’s weapon detectors. The system is powered by artificial intelligence and Onslow County Schools’ Chief Communications Officer, Brent Anderson, said this is just another layer to the district’s overall security approach.
“The idea with this is that you create a lane and as people go through the system, it will ping and it will alarm. If there's something that comes up that it identifies as something that shouldn't be on campus, and then that person is stepped aside and then people can continue through the lane as quickly as possible.”
Evolv Technology advertises their system can get 2,000 people through one lane in an hour. Anderson said Jacksonville High School has roughly 1,700 students and four Evolv screening lanes.
“Wait times should be minimal. But first few days, we're going to ask our community to be patient with this as we're implementing this new technology and get all the kinks worked out about the processes.
Evolv systems may be set off by B.L.U.E. items, those are, binders, laptops, umbrellas and eyeglass cases. Anderson said school officials have been communicating this to families ahead of time to avoid setting the system off.
“But the idea is to get them through as quickly and efficiently and as safely as we can for us and for the students.”
Anderson said Onslow County Schools continue to prioritize the safety of students and faculty as they expand the district’s security measures.
For PRE, I’m Taylor Holbrooks.