{"id":222672,"date":"2026-04-07T23:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T23:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/222672\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T23:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T23:23:13","slug":"weapon-detection-systems-installed-at-two-pinellas-schools-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/222672\/","title":{"rendered":"Weapon detection systems installed at two Pinellas schools"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Pinellas County Schools launched advanced weapons detection systems Tuesday at two high schools.<\/p>\n<p>Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg and Palm Harbor University High School, in Palm Harbor, were selected as pilot program locations, based on the size of their campuses and the number of students and staff at each.<\/p>\n<p>The walk-through detection systems, <a href=\"https:\/\/evolv.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Evolv<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/healthcare.ceia-usa.com\/opengate-healthcare-weapons-detection\/?gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=23225346902&amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMImpqHpeHPkwMVBzjUAR3TFye1EAAYAyAAEgJgiPD_BwE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Opengate<\/a>, have been temporarily installed in high traffic areas, including morning arrivals and large school events. Shoes and\/or belts don\u2019t have to be removed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe systems we are piloting are common in many public events, theme parks, concerts and sporting events,\u201d Gibbs Principal Barry Brown explained in a video provided by PCS.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnlike traditional metal detectors, individuals do not need to remove most items from their pockets or backpacks before passing through the system. However, binders, laptops, umbrellas and eyeglass cases may need to be removed from backpacks and handed to staff members to help prevent false alarms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The pilot program will end May 29.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-114610\" class=\"wp-image-114610\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Palm-Hartbor-University-High-School-300x195.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"391\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-114610\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Palm Hartbor University High School Principal Teresa Patterson. Screengrab.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe last thing I want, the last thing our team wants, the superintendent of the board, is to make it feel like a prison,\u201d Sean Jowell, PCS Director of Safety and Security, told the media Monday. \u201cWe don\u2019t want that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The systems, which are already in use in Manatee and Sarasota counties, are \u201cnon-intrusive,\u201d Jowell insisted. \u201cIf something does alert to it, if it\u2019s a bag, we\u2019re just going to do a bag check like we normally do. And we\u2019re allowed to do bag checks on our campuses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>School administrators, PCS Police, District Safety and Security and local law enforcement partners will oversee implementation at each campus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe district will utilize information from this pilot to inform future decisions and implementation,\u201d said Chief of Schools Police Joe Weisman.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pinellas County Schools launched advanced weapons detection systems Tuesday at two high schools. Gibbs High School in St.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-222672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}