CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — School districts across the country are looking for ways to prevent the next school shooting. In Montgomery County, the sheriff there thinks the answer may be to use the same technology sports arenas and concert venues are now utilizing.
If you've been to a Titans, Predators or concert at the Ryman recently, you might call it a game changer. It's a weapons detection system that lets everyone walk straight in without taking anything out of your pocket, but it can detect the dangerous stuff.
"Pocket knives, handguns, blunt objects, rifles, things like that," Montgomery County Sheriff John Fuson said. "I think school safety has got to be at an aggressively progressive category and it needs to be proactive instead of reactive."
Sheriff Fuson is asking the Montgomery County Commission to let him do a pilot program, installing these sensors created by a company called Evolv Technology, in a local high school.
"It’ll be at an entryway, so anyone that enters the school as a visitor or a student will have to go through this system," said Fuson. "If there is something of concern, they can be pulled to the side and checked again."
But the AI-powered system isn't cheap.
"We’re thinking right now it would be in the $230,000 ballpark, which covers four years of service," said Fuson.
The nearly quarter of a million dollars only covers one dual lane scanner at one school. The system could also require additional staffing, which could also be costly.
"But there’s a lot of grant dollars out there," he explained.
The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System and Sheriff Fuson insist they haven't made a final decision on where the pilot program would go, if it's approved, but they're considering Northwest High School. That's because the recently remodeled campus has just one main entrance where all students go in and out.
CMCSS spokesperson Anthony Johnson tells NewsChannel 5, if they get the funding, they may also move the system around to see how it works in school buildings with more than one public entrance, like Rossview High, Montgomery Central High or Clarksville High.
"The way some of these schools are laid out, there may be three or more that we would have to have — not just the equipment, but the staff," said Sheriff Fuson.
There are a lot of ifs — but if they get the funding and if the pilot goes well — Sheriff Fuson envisions these Evolv Technology scanners being a game changer at schools across Montgomery County.
"I have no doubt it will be successful. I think once we get the data that we need from this test, you know, we could roll that out as quick as maybe having another one mid-school year starting into another school," he said.
The Montgomery County Commission will vote on funding for the pilot program at their meeting Monday, May 8. If the plan is approved, CMCSS would be the first Tennessee school district to introduce the technology.
Christian County, Kentucky, has implemented a similar system from Motorola. Earlier this year, the school board voted to invest in weapons detection technology to uncover concealed weapons like guns and explosives at Christian County High, Hopkinsville High and Bluegrass Learning Academy. The price tag on their system is $809,000.
