Utah Considering Hidden Security Measures for Sundance Film Festival

A new technology that can covertly detect weapons is being considered by Utah officials to secure large events and public spaces.

• By Sydny Shepard
• May 24, 2019

A Utah official has partnered with a security company known for making a covert weapons detection system and is hoping to partner with schools, stadiums and churches to install the product for a layered security approach that is less invasive.

Utah Attourney General Sean Reyes and Georgia-based Liberty Defense Solutions are working together to test and promote the HEXWAVE product, which uses 3D imaging and artificial intelligence to detect concealed weapons on people in public spaces.

HEXWAVE scans for objects like guns, knives and explosives obscured by clothing or bags. The product can hidden in walls or other commonplace structures so that passersby can walk past without realizing they are being scanned.

The technology appears to "strike a balance between privacy interests on one side and security and safety," according to Reyes. 

The agreement between Reyes and Liberty Defense allows for introductions to be made between the company and prospective clients as well as advising interested parties of the potential uses for the solution. Police in Pro City, Utah have spoken with Liberty Defense about the potential uses of HEXWAVE to help secure the Sundance Film Festival because the imaging technology identifies objects rather than the people carrying them, according to an article by The Salt Lake Tribune. 

"If you can imagine an open place like Park City during Sundance to be able to have a little more of an awareness of what — and not who and what their identity is and where they live and what their driver's license is — but what they might have on them and where it is, to make sure everybody is as safe as possible," Reyes said.

The technology could also be used as a way to identify threats in other settings such as sporting and concert arenas, school campuses, churches, government buildings and amusement parks.