Baltimore council committee grills school officials over Evolve weapons‑detection contract, data and FTC findings

Baltimore — Baltimore City Council Public Safety Committee Chair Mark Conway said Thursday the hearing was meant to answer whether city institutions had the expertise and safeguards to evaluate AI systems before spending public dollars. "This hearing concerns 1 of those systems, Evolv," Conway said, noting a board-approved four‑year, roughly $5,460,000 contract to expand the system after a 2022 pilot.

The hearing focused on three intertwined questions: did the district evaluate Evolve’s AI detection claims before awarding the contract, how the district stores and shares operational data, and what oversight or recourse exists after regulators raised concerns. Conway repeatedly cited an industry and Federal Trade Commission probe, saying the FTC in November 2024 "confirmed that Evolve knowingly and repeatedly overstated its claims" about distinguishing weapons from harmless items and barred those marketing claims.

Monique Romo, executive director of operations for Baltimore City Public Schools, told the committee the district ran a multi‑phase pilot and evaluation of six vendors and intentionally limited Evolve’s configuration. "We are not using Evolve to do facial recognition," Romo said, adding that the district turned off surveillance features and uses the system only to detect items on a person at controlled school entry. She said BCPS installed 53 systems across 27 high schools as part of what the district described as a layered safety approach combining physical infrastructure, restorative practices and school police.

BCPS officials described operational procedures for alerts: when the system flags a person, staff perform a secondary screening — removing the item and re‑scanning — and school police handle administrative searches and take custody of weapons. Officials said roughly 30% of scans trigger alerts; most are benign items. The district also reported post‑implementation survey work, with "just over 1,500 students" and about 700 staff responding that they perceived increased safety and faster entry through the systems.

Committee members pressed several procurement and oversight points. Chair Conway and others asked whether the AI detection component was meaningfully tested in the pilot and whether the district could prove vendor claims prior to purchase. Romo said the district used the AI detection portion to pinpoint where to check on a person and that demonstrations and a rubric informed the sole‑source procurement. Officials acknowledged the system is not perfect, requires sensitivity tuning and ongoing training, and that Evolve’s marketed time‑savings and reduced staffing claims warrant evaluation.

Councilwoman Felicia Porter asked about alternatives that do not rely on Evolve, emphasizing school climate, mental‑health resources and restorative practices. Romo and other district officials reiterated those programs are part of the district’s safety strategy and said the district selected a range of pilot sites (including Patterson, Dunbar, Digital Harbor, Frederick Douglass, Mervo and Edmondson) to test the system across schools with different safety indicators.

Privacy and data‑use questions were a focus. Romo said operational data are stored on an Evolve‑hosted cloud and do not contain personally identifiable student information; the district retains access only to its operational data. She told the committee that Evolve may use technical performance and operational data to improve its product but is explicitly prohibited from collecting or using PII under the district’s contract. The district agreed to provide the committee with the contract language, data‑use provisions and its written protocol intended to prevent unreasonable searches or discriminatory impacts.

Officials also addressed image retention: snapshots visible on a district portal are accessible for a period before the system retains only metadata; BCPS agreed to confirm the exact retention period. On vendor recourse, Romo said the district had been monitoring public reporting about Evolve during the pilot and after award, and legal and finance staff had been briefed. The committee asked whether the district could seek remedies now that regulators restricted Evolve’s marketing; BCPS said it would follow up on legal options and contract remedies.

No members of the public signed up for testimony and Conway adjourned the hearing after committee members requested follow‑up materials including contract clauses on data sharing, the district’s evaluation and audit schedule. "We must require a higher level of rigor for technologies that affect student safety and civil rights," Conway said in closing.

The committee requested the procurement contract language on data use and retention, the district’s written protocol on preventing constitutional‑rights violations and the 2024 evaluation and post‑implementation assessment; BCPS agreed to provide the documents for committee review.