Frequently Asked Questions

Beginning Monday, August 25, 2025, the district will begin installing Evolv weapons detection systems at all GCPS middle and high schools.

The rollout is expected to continue throughout the fall and conclude by the end of March 2026.

This system will be used during morning arrival at designated entry points.

• Administrators and School Resource Officers may monitor lanes as students pass through. 

• Staff will be trained on how to operate the lanes, resolve alerts, and how to handle if a weapon or other threat is found.

• Detection of potential threat items such as knives, guns, and explosives based on sensitivity settings. 
• Evolv can detect ghost, 3-D printed, and simulated guns. 

• A secondary screening is an additional screening that occurs when the Evolv weapons detection system detects an item that is not permitted at the school. 

• A secondary screening will be conducted for the impacted student or visitor in the event the system detects an item not permitted at the school. 

• The student or visitor will be discreetly directed to a resolution table where they will be greeted by a trained operator who also has an image of where the system indicated, with a red box, where the individual possesses a potentially prohibited item. 

• If the red box indicates the item is in a backpack, the trained operator will ask the student to open the backpack, and the operator will then examine the contents. 

• If the red box indicates that the item is on the student, the trained operator will ask the student to divest the item on the table. 

• Parents will only be contacted if their student has an item not permitted in school. 

• If a student refuses to participate in secondary screening, the student will be denied entry into the school and will be subject to the district’s Student Conduct Behavior Code. 

• If a weapon has been detected and confirmed by a secondary screening: 

• Following division incident command protocols, the building security posture will be determined, and Gwinnett County Public Schools Police will be contacted. 

• Notification will be sent to parents/families regarding the confirmed weapon. 

The false alert percentage is approximately 9%.

Large three-ring binders, metal eyeglass cases, umbrellas, and some laptops may cause a false alert.

In keeping with FDA guidance on EAS and walk-through metal detectors, it is recommended that visitors and system operators with implantable or wearable medical devices consult their device manufacturer or physician for information relating to their specific device. An alternative screening approach is recommended for anyone who has safety concerns.

• The FDA recognizes a low likelihood of ELF interfering with implanted electronic medical devices, including cochlear implants. 

• As Evolv is focused on detecting weapons of mass casualties, hearing aids are unlikely to cause an alert. 

The Evolv weapons detection system uses extremely low-frequency radio waves (ELF) to induce the magnetization of metallic objects; this same range is used in retail settings for loss prevention.

The Evolv weapons detection system is a new technology, and there are no long-term health studies with Evolv specifically. The magnetic field bands in which the Evolv weapons detection system operates are so low they are not federally enforced. Evolv has been certified according to the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers’ (IEEE) safety standards. 

GCPS, in consultation with Evolv, determines the sensitivity setting and may decide to increase/decrease the level to add an additional layer of safety, or prevent excessive false alerts, if necessary. 

The Evolv weapons detection system can detect potential threats even with more than one person passing through at a time, showing alerts for each student detected with a potential threat. 

• Evolv’s AI technology places a red box around the area indicating a potential threat that may be hidden in an enclosed space. 

• If an item is flagged by the system, you will be asked to step to the side for a secondary screening, and may have to walk through the detector again.

Evolv has been awarded the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) SAFETY Act Designation as a Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology (QATT). 

• The system generates metadata indicating potential threats, camera data to match sensor results, and the general area of concern, statistical data to provide analytics for alarm rates and threat types, and self-diagnostics for system health and calibration. 

• Data collected from the system will be managed centrally and only used for planning purposes. This includes the number of students screened, the number of alerts, and the duration of screening. For security reasons, this information will not be shared publicly.

• Data is stored locally in the system itself and is deleted on a first-in-first-out basis, with all images able to be removed with a tablet power cycle.  

• Only the system administrator (GCPS) controls if the system actively stores screening results. 

Operators can see data on the tablet for resolution purposes.