{"id":75669,"date":"2025-09-04T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/09\/04\/va-hospitals-pay-for-ai-weapons-scanners-testers-say-are-error-prone\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:49:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:49:45","slug":"va-hospitals-pay-for-ai-weapons-scanners-testers-say-are-error-prone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/2025\/09\/04\/va-hospitals-pay-for-ai-weapons-scanners-testers-say-are-error-prone\/","title":{"rendered":"VA hospitals pay for AI weapons scanners testers say are error-prone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Veterans\u2019 hospitals short on police guards<\/a> have turned to a purported artificial intelligence-based<\/a> weapons scanner<\/a> with advertised features that offered an artificial sense of security compared to the actual capabilities of conventional metal detectors that cost about 25 times less<\/a>, according to the Federal Trade Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Veterans Affairs continues to pay a subscription \u2014 now valued at $372,000<\/a> \u2014 for the Evolv Express system<\/a> in Buffalo, New York, and has plans to roll out<\/a> more machines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, the department signed a contract worth up to $1 million<\/a> for the installation of a different AI weapon-detection tool with similar advertising, federal databases and contracting papers show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The VA\u2019s inventory of AI uses<\/a> acknowledges that the department operates and maintains the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department\u2019s interest in Express, meanwhile, has alarmed some law enforcement specialists and independent security testers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is particularly problematic, given this is a federal agency, buying a federally-sanctioned product, and this is supposed to be put in hospitals, specifically to guard against active shooters and vets who might want to hurt themselves in the hospital,\u201d said Jim Bueermann, a retired police chief who leads the Future Policing Institute, a nonprofit that helps law enforcement agencies use AI responsibly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe use scientific methods to test\u201d security devices, \u201cnot the marketing material from the company that intends to make money off the sale of that system.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the VA contracted for detectors at the Buffalo VA Medical Center in August 2023, the Express webpage explained the device uses \u201cproven artificial intelligence\u201d<\/a> to ensure \u201cmore accurate threat detection\u201d than metal detectors and \u201ca line-free experience without slowing down.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also at that time, the homepage of Evolv Technologies<\/a>, the machine\u2019s maker, touted that Express screens \u201cin a touchless manner,\u201d which \u201cdrastically reduces human errors by security guards.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Evolv\u2019s \u201cVirtual Demo\u201d webpage declared that Express will \u201creduce labor costs by up to 70%.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit<\/a> in 2024, describing each of those performance claims as false, misleading or unsubstantiated. Nearly one year later, the company has not released independent, third-party tests to validate its claims. <\/p>\n\n\n\t