Gun detectors coming to NYC subway as transit system sees sharp drop in crime

Gun-detecting scanners equipped with artificial intelligence will soon come to the New York City subway, Mayor Eric Adams announced Wednesday.

The mayor said during a news conference at Fulton Transit Center that the technology will be set up “in a few locations” within “the next few days.” Over the last two years, Adams and NYPD officials have said they’re considering putting the detectors in subway stations. Similar technology is in use at venues like Yankee Stadium and Citi Field.

Adams did not specify where the technology would be rolled out, or which company would provide the equipment.

The NYPD earlier this year tested scanners from the company Evolv in subway stations. The scanners flag riders carrying metal objects resembling a firearm without requiring anyone to stop or wait in line. Adams has said police are also looking into other companies that provide similar technology.

Legal Aid attorney Diane Akerman criticized the announcement.

“New Yorkers want a safe subway system that works. These scanners will create significant inconvenience, adding congestion and delays to an already overburdened system,” Akerman said in a release.

“Even worse, they are an unjustified invasion of privacy, and put people’s lives — particularly those of our clients, the majority of whom are people of color — at risk from the panic that an inevitable false alarm would induce.”

The news of the metal detectors comes as NYPD data shows subway crime has fallen below pre-pandemic levels — a drop MTA Chair Janno Lieber partly attributed to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s order to deploy hundreds of National Guard soldiers and state police officers into the transit system earlier this year.

Lieber said during the news conference that the city and state “are really making progress” on subway crime and argued the system is not a “dystopian hellscape.”

Major felonies reported in trains and stations since the start of the year fell 11% compared to the same period of 2019 — and nearly 8% compared to 2023, according to NYPD data.

“We are breaking the cycle of crime in our subway system” Adams said. “If you take out the first two years of the pandemic, when no one was on the system, our system is now the safest in over 14 years.”

Adams said subway robberies in particular dropped sharply in 2024, noting they’re at “the lowest point in recorded history.”

MTA officials said several other initiatives have helped reduce crime on the subways, including the installation of more security cameras on trains and in stations and an initiative to send more mental health professionals into the system.