Portland tests school weapons detectors
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Portland Public Schools (PPS) is evaluating a weapons detection system that can be easily moved around buildings or outdoor sporting events and screen crowds faster than traditional metal detectors.
Why it matters: Currently, no Portland public school has a weapons detection system, but piloting one is among the 13 recommendations a PPS task force made in May, in response to more gun violence affecting students last year.
What they did: At the Sept. 15 football game between the McDaniel Mountain Lions and the Lincoln Cardinals, two weapons detection pillars were set up outside the McDaniel stadium entrance.
- People attending the game walked through with all their bags.
- The process meant it took "a little longer" to get in, according to reports from the game.
What they found: While no guns were found, several "small hobby knives" were detected, according to Tom McDermott, who works for CEIA, the company selling the system.
- Any school using the system should set policies to go with it, said McDermott, who helped out on site with the test at McDaniel.
- "Even if we detect certain things, it's up to them to decide what they would consider innocuous."
How it works: This system, called OPENGATE, uses two free-standing pillars that can be set up or moved quickly — each weighs about 25 pounds — and can run on batteries.
- A pair of pillars can screen up to 2,500 people per hour, according to CEIA.
Details: The system is ultimately a metal detector but designed to adjust for different situations, McDermott said. For example, hundreds of students entering school when the bell rings can "carry backpacks full of stuff through, but we'll find the gun," McDermott told Axios.
- He says it would not detect explosives that didn't include metal parts.
The big picture: About 1,000 school districts across the country are using the OPENGATE weapons detectors, according to McDermott, which is just one of many weapons detector systems sold to schools.
- Nationally, less than 1% of high schools use metal detectors for daily screenings, and about 1.5% use them for random screenings, according to the most recent federal statistics.
What's next: Portland Public Schools spokesperson Sydney Kelly told Axios via email they are still getting feedback on the test and have "not yet decided whether we will pilot another system."