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…