Evolv Technology, a Winner in the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program, has seen South Carolina school districts Spartanburg County District 6 and Florence 1 Schools install Evolv’s AI-based, free-flow weapons-detection systems to keep students, teachers, administrators and visitors safe in an age of increasing viral violence.
Additionally, on the heels of the successful initial implementation, paired with positive feedback from students, teachers, parents and administrators, Spartanburg School District 6 has increased the number of Evolv systems in use throughout their campuses.
Spartanburg School District 6, one of 85 school districts in South Carolina, is the state’s 20th largest with approximately 11,500 students and 900 certified staff members, which includes three middle schools, a ninth-grade school campus and a high school.
The 11th largest district within the state with more than 16,000 students, Florence 1 includes three middle schools and three high schools and is the second largest employer in Florence County.
Taking proactive measures to keep students safe was of paramount importance for both school districts, especially given the increasing frequency of school shootings and related incidents.
(Courtesy of ABC News, and Li Ying/Xinhua via Newscom. Posted on Dec 13, 2019.)
The districts required a technology solution that would help prevent threats from entering their campuses—such as guns, large knives or explosives.
Equally important was maintaining a welcoming environment paired with the ability for students to move quickly through screening in order to ensure they got to class on time and no lines were created.
Evolv’s technology eliminates the need to choose between safety and experience reducing the burden on security teams and taking the hassle out of people-screening.
“District 6 is a forward-thinking, progressive school that has long been focused on education and innovation and we always put our children first,” explained Dr. Mark Smith, Director of Student Services and Safety at Spartanburg 6, the first school in the nation to use Evolv’s AI-based free-flow weapons detection system.
“We wanted to incorporate security technology not because we had any incidents, but because we wanted to ensure we never have one.”
(This Fall, the nation’s first free-flow weapons-detection system was launched in schools to stop guns, bombs and large knives from entering school buildings. Courtesy of Evolv Technology and YouTube. Posted on Dec 17, 2019.)
“I’d been researching security strategies and next generation technologies searching for a solution that delivered optimal security while providing a welcoming, non-prison-like environment for everyone on campus,” added Smith.
“I’d been coming up short until I discovered Evolv. They checked all the boxes.”
“Based on the outright success of our initial implementation, and outstanding partnership with Evolv, we’ve expanded the number of systems throughout all of our high schools and middle schools.”
“Prior to using Evolv, we used metal detectors,” said Douglas Nunnally, Director of Security and School Safety, Florence 1.
“They were highly inefficient because they created lines, prompted an overwhelming number of manual and secondary searches and there was no way to capture any screening data.”
“We want students in class learning, not waiting in lines. We needed a system that would speed up the screening process without decreasing security and with Evolv, the process is better, faster and smoother.”
“Notably, it gives us full visibility into screening numbers via the system’s dashboard, while providing us the ability to connect to a security operations center when we’re ready.”
Evolv offers a true partnership.
They don’t just drop off the systems like other vendors—they’ve partnered with us from the start to support and train our staff, and ensure a great experience for our students, faculty, administrators and visitors.”
While metal detectors are good at finding metal, they do not work well in modern environments as most people carry metal such as smart phones.
Moreover, metal detectors prompt the need for an extremely high number of additional screening measures such as X-rays and hand searching, inconvenient for those being screened while adding time, creating lines and increasing cost.
Up until now, this forced schools to choose between student safety and student experience.
(Evolv Express™ is the first no-stop weapons-screening system built to automatically screen groups of people as they walk through without slowing or stopping. Express screens visitors individually or together, while automatically differentiating weapons from personal items. It is the fastest weapons-screening system on the market, consistently screening 60 people every minute for firearms and other threats. That’s 3,600 people per hour – 10X faster than a traditional checkpoint system. Courtesy of Evolv Technology and YouTube. Posted on Jan 22, 2020.)
Driven by a mission to keep people safe as they go about their daily lives, Evolv has redefined weapons-screening and threat detection.
Led by a team with proven track records for providing first-to-market products by pairing security expertise with advanced technologies, Evolv’s patented systems combine AI and sensors to differentiate and identify threats from personal items.
Doing so allows students to quickly pass through screening individually or in groups – with backpacks on shoulders, phones and keys in pockets and carrying musical instrument cases or other items.
Because the system is trained to differentiate weapons from personal items and provides image-aided alarms for targeted secondary screening, the need to search every bag no longer exists.
“As a father, I know all too well that schools today not only need to provide the best educational experience for students, teachers and staff, but that they must also help keep them safe from harm,” explained Evolv Chief Executive Officer Peter George.
“In the first 46 weeks of 2019, there were 45 school shootings. We simply cannot accept that to be the ‘new normal’.”
“Spartanburg 6 and Florence 1 are taking demonstrable action in that regard and they’re paving the way for other school districts when it comes to protecting their schools. We’re honored to be a part of that journey.”
To ensure a successful implementation at schools, Evolv developed a proprietary implementation methodology in a “Playbook” that is provided to school customers during the deployment planning process providing best-practice insights into security system design, concept of operations, user support services, and staff training.
To Learn More about how Evolv is helping school districts keep their students safe without sacrificing the student experience. More here.
Evolve Multiple Award Winner in 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program
Evolv Technology
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Best Metal/Weapons Detection Solution
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Evolv Express
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Evolv Express delivers a frictionless high-speed smart firearm and bomb detection system that screens over 3600 people per hour (60 people per minute) and gets smarter over time.
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Evolv Express keeps high volume entrances flowing by reliably detecting guns and other weapons as visitors walk through at a natural pace.
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Evolv Technology was also recognized with a Win in the 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program.
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The 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program surpassed expectations with a record number of nominations received from industry leaders and government agencies, and drew over 200 attendees to the ‘ASTORS’ Awards Presentation Banquet – an exclusive gourmet luncheon and networking opportunity which filled to capacity, before having to turn away late registrants.
The event featured an impassioned and compelling keynote address by William J. Bratton, former police commissioner of the New York Police Department (NYPD) twice, the Boston Police Department (BPD), and former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), as he walked attendees through 50 years of American policing history, the impacts on the communities, and the evolution of critical communication capabilities in our post 9/11 landscape.
Commissioner Bratton, one of the world’s most respected and trusted experts on risk and security issues and Executive Chairman of Teneo Risk a global advisory firm, was recognized as the ‘2019 ‘ASTORS’ Person of the Year’ for his Lifetime of Dedication and Extraordinary Leadership in Homeland Security and Public Safety.
Why the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program?
American Security Today’s comprehensive Annual Homeland Security Awards Program is organized to recognize the most distinguished vendors of physical, IT, port security, law enforcement, and first responders, in acknowledgment of their outstanding efforts to ‘Keep our Nation Secure, One City at a Time.’
Over 200 distinguished guests representing Federal, State and Local Governments, and Industry Leading Corporate Firms, gathered from across North America, Europe and the Middle East to be honored among their peers in their respective fields which included:
- The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
- National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)
- United States Marine Corps
- The Federal Protective Service (FPS)
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
- United States Postal Inspection Service
- DHS S&T
- United States Marshals Service (USMS)
- The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Police (PAPD)
- The Department of Justice (DOJ)
- The New York State Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services (NYS DHSES)
- United States Border Patrol
- AlertMedia, Ameristar Perimeter Security, Attivo Networks, Automatic Systems, Bellevue University, BriefCam, Canon U.S.A., CornellCookson, Drone Aviation, FLIR Systems, Hanwha Techwin, HID Global, IPVideo Corp., Konica Minolta Business Solutions, LenelS2, ManTech, Regroup Mass Notifications, SafeLogic, SolarWinds, Senstar, ShotSpotter, Smiths Detection, TCOM LP, Trackforce, Verint, and More!
Why American Security Today?
The traditional security marketplace has long been covered by a host of publications putting forward the old school basics to what is Today – a fast changing security landscape.
The traditional security marketplace has long been covered by a host of publications putting forward the old school basics to what is Today – a fast changing security landscape.
American Security Today is uniquely focused on the broader Homeland Security & Public Safety marketplace with over 75,000 readers at the Federal, State and local levels of government as well as firms allied to government.
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Today’s new generation of public safety and security experts need real-time knowledge to deal with domestic and international terrorism, lone wolf attacks, unprecedented urban violence, shifts in society, culture and media bias – making it increasingly difficult for Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, First Responders, Military and Private Security Professionals to implement coordinated security measures to ensure national security and improve public safety.
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To learn more about the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Award Winners solutions, please go to the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Championship Edition Fully Interactive Magazine – the Best Products of 2019 ‘A Year in Review’.
The ‘ASTORS’ Champion Edition is published annually and includes a review of the ‘ASTORS’ Award Winning products and programs, highlighting key details on many of the winning firms products and services, includes video interviews and more.
It is your Go-To source throughout the year for ‘The Best of 2019 Products and Services‘ endorsed by American Security Today, and can satisfy your agency’s and organization’s most pressing Homeland Security and Public Safety needs.
From Physical Security (Access Control, Critical Infrastructure, Perimeter Protection and Video Surveillance Cameras and Video Management Systems), to IT Security (Cybersecurity, Encryption, Data Storage, Anti-Malware and Networking Security – Just to name a few), the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ CHAMPIONS EDITION will have what you need to Detect, Delay, Respond to, and Mitgate today’s real-time threats in our constantly evolving security landscape.
It also includes featured guest editorial pieces from some of the security industry’s most respected leaders, and recognized firms in the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program.
Evolv Technology’s AI-based, free-flow weapons-screening and threat detection systems work at the pace of life to accommodate thousands of individuals and groups per hour, screening 50 million people to date.
DON’T STOP
YOUR VISITORS.
Evolv Technology offers a rapid, undisruptive manner while preventing more than 5,000 weapons from entering a range of public and private facilities.
In addition to South Carolina’s Spartanburg County School District 6 and Florence 1 School District, Evolv’s customers include the Lincoln Center, Oakland Airport, Gillette Stadium, L.L. Bean and hundreds of other top entertainment venues, schools, international airports, stadiums, corporations, hospitals, large-scale events, houses of worship and national landmarks around the globe.
To Learn More about AI-based, free-flow weapons-detection systems, please visit https://evolvtechnology.com/.
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