SCHENECTADY, NY (WRGB) — CBS 6 has legal reaction to the Schenectady School Board approval of a weapons detection system proposal.
As we reported this week, The district’s Director of School Climate and Safety says they’ve secured a $500,000 grant for the system.
The four options being considered include traditional metal detectors. However, two options are powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
According to the presentation to the school board, the technology detects both metallic and non-metallic items. One of the potential vendors, Evolv, advertises that the AI senses the density of objects people have on them and determines if those objects are weapons.
As we’ve reported, the first few weeks of the new school year have been rocked with several alarming incidents involving violence and weapons, including student brawls, a knife fight, and social media threats.
Some critics of expanding the security argue it would disproportionately impact black and brown students, fueling the school-to-prison pipeline. We spoke with education attorney Nicholas Marricco of Tully Rinckey PLLC to get his reaction to the situation:
“It is fairly documented, but it’s more of a theory. Safety of students should not be forgotten because of a theory… They’re taking the safety measures seriously. Listen, I’d be the first one to call them a silly goose if they weren’t doing this correctly. I’d be the first one to call them that. It looks like they’re getting their ducks in a row and they’re actually taking this pretty seriously, which is good,” Marricco tells CBS 6.
