Utica Schools Will Phase out New $3 Million Weapons Detector

The new acting Superintendent of Schools in the Utica City School District says that the Evolv Weapons Detector system purchased for nearly $4 million over the summer will now have to replaced.

Brian Nolan said during an interview on Wednesday, that despite what Superintendent Bruce Karam said publicly, and to the school board - the security system does not detect knives. Nolan said that Karam had maintained that the technology would prevent all weapons from entering the school, even though the company clearly stated initially to the district that the system was not designed to detect knives. The board approved the purchase of the security system after Karam stated at a Board meeting that it would stop all weapons from entering the schools.

Nolan said that since the stabbing occurred on October 31st, the district had to change its security protocol. New equipment, including metal detectors will be installed in all of the schools and the Evolv systems will be phased out. He said Evolv is designed for large stadium environments where preventing a gun from entering and not a knife, would help prevent the mass casualties that a gun could create. However, in a school setting it's essential that all weapons are kept from entering the school, including knives.

The security system that Utica Schools will be moving towards will include metal detectors, wands and a practice of checking bags before students enter the building. The practice will be similar to an experience at airport security.

At Tuesday's school board meeting, Nolan presented a report to the board that seemingly described a scenario in which Karam misled the Board of Education in order to get them to approve the purchase.

Karam is currently on paid administration from the Superintendent's position while an independent investigation is conducted on an unrelated matter.

Listen to the complete interview below.