Security screening has traditionally required a compromise. Organizations could implement thorough screening, but doing so often meant long lines, guests emptying their pockets, manual bag checks, additional security personnel and congested entrances.

Evolv Express® was designed to change that model.

Evolv Express is an advanced, AI-powered weapons detection screening system designed to identify concealed threats while allowing people to walk through a security checkpoint at a natural pace. Instead of treating every metal object as a potential threat, Evolv Express combines advanced sensors, artificial intelligence and image-assisted alarm resolution to distinguish many potential weapons from common everyday objects.

The result is a security screening process capable of handling extremely large crowds while providing security personnel with information that helps them determine who needs additional screening and where a potential threat may be located.

For stadiums, arenas, schools, hospitals, entertainment venues and other high-traffic facilities, this combination of security and speed can dramatically change the experience at the front door.

What Is Evolv Express

Evolv Express is a walk-through concealed weapons detection system developed by Evolv Technology. Unlike a traditional walk-through metal detector, the system is designed specifically around high-volume weapons screening.

Evolv describes Express as its flagship people-screening solution. The technology combines advanced sensors, AI-powered software, cameras, cloud services and an operator tablet to detect potential concealed threats and assist security personnel with resolving alerts. Current Evolv materials identify firearms, improvised explosive threats and certain knives among the types of threats the platform is designed to detect.

Instead of requiring every visitor to stop individually, people can generally continue walking through the screening area at their normal pace.

That difference is one of the primary reasons Evolv Express can achieve such high throughput.

How Does Evolv Express Work

When a person walks between the Evolv Express sensor towers, the system analyzes information collected by its sensors using artificial intelligence.

The goal is not simply to determine whether someone is carrying metal.

Traditional metal detectors react to metallic objects based largely on the amount, location and characteristics of metal detected. That means harmless items such as phones, keys and other personal belongings can contribute to alarms and require additional screening.

Evolv Express is designed to distinguish many common everyday objects from potential threats. This can allow visitors to keep many personal items with them instead of routinely stopping to empty their pockets before screening. Venue policies and sensitivity settings still determine exactly what visitors may carry through the checkpoint.

If the system determines that additional screening may be necessary, an alert is presented to security personnel on the connected tablet.

Rather than simply sounding an alarm, Evolv can provide an image-assisted indication identifying the person associated with the alert and the approximate area where the potential threat was detected.

This allows security personnel to perform a more directed secondary screening instead of automatically conducting a complete search of every individual who generates an alarm.

Why Is Evolv Express So Fast

One of the biggest advantages of Evolv Express is throughput.

A dual-lane Evolv Express system can screen up to approximately 4,000 people per hour, according to current Evolv materials. Actual throughput depends on sensitivity settings, alarm rates, visitor behavior, bag policies, staffing and the facility's secondary-screening process.

What makes that possible is not one single feature. It is the way the entire checkpoint is designed.

Natural Walking Speed

Visitors do not normally need to stop individually inside the system. Multiple people can continuously approach and move through the checkpoint. Removing the stop-and-go process associated with conventional screening dramatically increases the number of people who can move through an entrance.

Dual-Lane Screening

A dual-lane Evolv Express configuration allows two streams of visitors to move through the screening area simultaneously. Instead of forcing a large crowd into a single-file screening process, security teams can maintain a much more natural flow of people.

Less Divestment

At many traditional checkpoints, visitors must remove items such as phones, keys and other belongings before entering the detector. Every time that happens, several seconds are added to the screening process. Multiply those seconds by several thousand people entering an arena or stadium within a short period and substantial lines can quickly develop.

Evolv Express is designed to distinguish many harmless personal items from potential weapons, reducing the amount of routine divestment required.

Fewer Unnecessary Secondary Searches

Throughput is not determined only by how quickly someone passes through the detector. It is also determined by what happens after an alarm occurs.

If too many harmless objects cause alarms, security personnel can quickly become overwhelmed with secondary searches.

Evolv uses AI to help filter many everyday items and provides operators with image-assisted information indicating where the potential threat may be located. That allows the secondary screening team to perform a more focused resolution when an alert occurs.

Unstructured People Flow

Evolv Express was designed around more natural, less rigid movement than conventional single-file screening. Families, groups, employees, students or fans can continue moving toward the checkpoint without the same degree of individual staging normally required with traditional metal detectors.

These factors together are what give Evolv Express one of the highest published throughput capacities in modern walk-through weapons screening.

Evolv Express vs. Traditional Metal Detectors

*Actual Evolv throughput depends on system configuration, sensitivity settings and the alarm-resolution process.

Main Advantages of Evolv Express

The biggest advantage is the ability to combine weapons screening with a much higher level of visitor flow.

Traditional security checkpoints can unintentionally create another security concern: a large concentration of people waiting outside a protected perimeter.

Reducing the amount of time people spend standing in security lines can therefore benefit both the visitor experience and overall entrance management.

Evolv Express can also reduce the operational burden placed on security teams. Instead of concentrating personnel on repeatedly emptying pockets, hand-wanding visitors and performing unnecessary searches, personnel can focus more attention on individuals or items that actually require additional investigation.

Another major advantage is flexibility. Security settings and operating procedures can be adapted based on the type of facility, expected crowd and desired security posture.

Where Is Evolv Express Used

Evolv Express is particularly well suited for locations that need to screen large numbers of people without creating major entrance delays, including:

• Stadiums and professional sports venues
• Arenas and concert venues
• Performing arts centers
• K-12 schools and universities
• Hospitals and healthcare facilities
• Corporate and industrial workplaces
• Tourist attractions
• Houses of worship
• Government and municipal facilities
• Large events and other public gathering spaces

Evolv reported in 2026 that its technology had screened more than four billion people worldwide since the launch of Evolv Express in 2019. The platform is currently used across schools, hospitals, professional sports facilities, entertainment venues, workplaces, houses of worship and other public gathering locations.

Stadiums, Arenas and Entertainment Venues

Large entertainment venues are one of the clearest examples of the benefit of high-throughput screening.

A 50,000-seat stadium may have tens of thousands of people arriving within a relatively short window before kickoff or showtime. Traditional screening can require large numbers of individual lanes to handle that volume.

With Evolv Express, visitors can continue moving through checkpoints at a much more natural pace, helping reduce lines while allowing the venue to maintain a weapons screening program.

Faster admission can also improve the overall fan experience by getting guests inside the venue sooner.

Evolv Express for Schools

Schools face a different throughput challenge. Hundreds or thousands of students may arrive within a very short period each morning. Screening technology that creates a several-second delay per student can quickly result in long lines and missed classroom time.

Evolv Express is designed to allow students to continue through screening at their normal walking pace. Current Evolv educational materials state that a dual-lane system can screen up to 1,000 students in approximately 15 minutes, depending on operating conditions.

Evolv Express for Hospitals

Hospitals must balance security with accessibility. Patients, visitors, doctors, nurses, contractors and employees may enter around the clock, making a highly restrictive checkpoint difficult to operate.

High-throughput screening provides hospitals with another layer of security while helping maintain the welcoming and accessible environment expected in a healthcare facility.

What Happens When Evolv Detects a Potential Threat

When Express generates an alert, security personnel receive visual guidance on the connected operator tablet.

The system can show which individual triggered the alert and provide an approximate location of the potential item. That information allows security personnel to conduct a targeted secondary inspection.

The final determination is still made by trained security personnel.

Evolv Express does not replace security officers or an organization's security procedures.

Instead, it gives security personnel technology and information that can help them make faster and more focused screening decisions.

Evolv Express and Evolv eXpedite

Facilities that encounter large numbers of backpacks or high-clutter bags can also pair Evolv Express with Evolv eXpedite™, Evolv's AI-powered X-ray bag screening platform.

The two systems serve different purposes. Express screens people, while eXpedite screens bags.

Separating higher-clutter bags from the people-screening process can help an organization operate Express at a higher sensitivity level while seeking to maintain efficient visitor flow and manageable alarm rates. Evolv specifically positions the two technologies as complementary layers of a weapons-detection checkpoint.

Evolv Insights and Security Analytics

Evolv Express is more than a physical screening portal.

Evolv Insights® provides security teams with operational data about their screening program, including information such as throughput volume, alarm statistics, detection settings and system performance.

This data can help organizations answer important operational questions. For example, when do the largest crowds arrive? Which entrance receives the most traffic? How frequently are alerts occurring? Does staffing need to be adjusted during certain periods?

Security departments can use this information to continuously improve checkpoint design, staffing and entrance operations.

Is Evolv Express Safe

Evolv Express is not an X-ray people scanner.

According to Evolv's health and safety documentation, Express uses extremely low-frequency radio waves, which are a non-ionizing sensing technology. Evolv states that the system complies with applicable IEEE guidance for electromagnetic-field exposure, including guidance covering the general public and pregnant individuals.

For individuals with implanted or wearable medical devices, Evolv recommends following FDA-style precautions used for electronic security systems: visitors should consult their physician or device manufacturer about their specific device, and an alternative screening method should be available for anyone with a safety concern.

Does Evolv Express Use Facial Recognition

According to Evolv's current privacy notice, Evolv Express does not use facial-recognition technology or biometric identification.

Images are used to help security personnel identify the person associated with an alert and the approximate area of a potential threat. Evolv states that the system does not associate those images with a person's identity or analyze characteristics such as race, hair color, height or weight.

Organizations can also configure certain image-retention options according to their operational and privacy requirements.

Does Evolv Express Detect Every Weapon

No security screening technology should be viewed as a guarantee that every possible threat will always be detected.

Evolv itself emphasizes that Express should operate as part of a layered security strategy combining people, procedures and technology. Detection performance can be affected by factors such as the type of threat, sensitivity settings, venue policies and operating procedures.

This is an important distinction.

The purpose of Evolv Express is not to eliminate the need for trained security personnel. Its purpose is to give those personnel a highly advanced screening layer capable of detecting potential concealed threats while allowing dramatically greater visitor flow than many conventional screening processes.

When Is Evolv Express Right for Your Facility

Evolv Express can be an excellent option for organizations where traditional metal detection creates too much congestion or requires too much manual screening.

However, the right security solution depends on more than the detector itself.

Entrance width, anticipated attendance, peak arrival patterns, bag policies, desired sensitivity, available security personnel, secondary screening areas and existing security technology should all be considered when designing a checkpoint.

Security Detection Solutions can help organizations evaluate Evolv Express as part of a complete security screening strategy and determine the appropriate number of systems, lane configuration and supporting screening technology for their facility.

Whether you are securing a stadium, school, hospital, corporate facility, performing arts center or other high-traffic environment, the goal is the same: