Page 69 - Security Today, May/June 2022

surprised by the number of technologies that these schools were exposed to and the challenges they were having sifting through those possibilities. And so, I think we concluded that people didn’t understand— or, well, we were failing to tell the story effectively—of how Evolv is different than other technologies.”
Meanwhile, in West Virginia, representatives of Fayette County Schools were on the hunt for an upgrade to the district’s metal detection systems. District network specialist Mo Shrewsberry
happened to be visiting a large amusement park and noticed the functionalities of the park’s security system—courtesy of Evolv. Fayette County Schools Superintendent Gary Hough said that Shrewsberry came into his office and asked if Hough would agree to bring in one of the systems to test its compatibility within the school system.
"I was actually heading to that same venue about a week later,” said Hough. “I took a look at it, came back, and said, 'Yeah, let's give this a run. Let's see what we can do with it.' So that's where we got our opportunity to
By Matt Jones
at least discuss it. And then, when we brought one in for a test, we decided this is definitely what we need to look at."
The district purchased and installed its first Evolv weapons detection system in November 2021. Hough said that the district didn’t have the funds at the time for a larger- scale purchase, but the plan was to put the resources into an upcoming levy within the next few years. Then, Hough said, they came across the opportunity to participate in GiveEvolv.
“Initially, when we started developing the criteria for GiveEvolv, one of the criteria was to focus on either schools that had had an incident, or schools in an area that had particularly high levels of gun violence,” Charlton said. “That faded, because what we realized pretty quickly was that the incidents that have occurred are not particularly tied to those criteria. And so, that was one. And two was that it doesn’t matter where you go— this issue is very central in the minds of any administrator, at any school, anywhere.”
Evolv Express weapons detection systems allow crowds to pass through at normal speed. Students don’t need to empty their pockets, remove their bags, or stop for any kind of additional screening unless the system flags them. The system can screen 3,600 people per hour, and its flexible deployment options allow for easy portability and use either indoors or outdoors. It uses artificial intelligence, security ecosystem integrations and venue analytics to ensure safe and accurate threat detection with as little hassle— and as few false flags—as possible.
“When we realized that awareness among school districts of the distinctive nature of the Evolv technology was lower than we anticipated, that elevated—okay, well, we need somebody who can help tell the story to their peers. And we felt that that really was the driving criteria,” said Charlton.
In March 2022, Fayette County Schools was officially named the first recipient of the GiveEvolv grant program. It received three Evolv Express weapons screening systems to be installed at Oak Hill High School, Oak Hill Middle School and Fayetteville PK–8.
“Throughout all Fayette County Schools, we are committed to fostering a learning
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