Metro passengers at the Norwalk station will be among the first to be screened for concealed weapons as part of the transit system’s ongoing safety campaign.
The enhanced screening system will be implemented at the C Line Norwalk station starting Monday, Metro officials said.
“Metro will begin screening passengers for concealed weapons at the C Line Norwalk station and will be assessing the technologies for 12 months across various key stations to see if they can be an effective, additional layer to its holistic approach to safety that has included environmental improvements, installation of modern fare gates, increased uniformed presence and care-based strategies,” officials explained in a media release.
Speaking further on the new technology, Carlos Rico, the senior manager of system security for L.A. Metro, told KTLA on Monday morning that the scanners are less invasive than ones that are typically seen elsewhere, like theme parks.
“[This technology] is a lot less invasive than traditional metal detectors,” Rico said. “We can set it at different levels of sensitivity…we’re not concerned about people that have any sort of metal object on them. We’re specifically looking at firearms, knives and anything that could potentially be dangerous to our patrons while they’re riding the transit system.”
When it comes to which specific stations the tech will be implemented at, Rico explained that officials are looking at “a whole host of different analytic sets.”
“We’re looking at stations that have higher levels of crime and stations that have had incidents [involving] people with weapons on them,” he said. “We’re [also] focused on the stations with the highest level of ridership.”
“This is just one more program to ensure that everybody who is on Metro is safe,” he added.
Officials are set to formally unveil the technology at the Norwalk station at a press conference scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Monday.
The pilot program comes after Metro began formally rolling out their new, taller fare gates at select stations across the region in an effort to combat fare evasion earlier this month.
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