#97 Michael Green: Building “Tunnels of Truth” to Detect Weapons and Prevent Targeted Violence

Michael Green explains why he co-founded Athena Security and how a real, heartbreaking incident in 2023 reinforced the urgency of their mission: saving lives by detecting and denying weapons—and sometimes dangerous people—before they enter facilities. He shares how targeted violence can slip through gaps in coverage and how that reality pushed his team to deploy faster and more widely.Federico and Michael unpack what it takes for security programs to work in the real world. Michael explains that detection is only part of the system: outcomes depend on disciplined processes, well-designed secondary screening, and consistent officer performance over time. They discuss the core tradeoff every organization faces—accuracy, speed, and convenience—and the “necessary friction” required to keep environments safe without overwhelming staff with alarms or fatigue.Michael breaks down Athena’s approach to weapons screening using multi-frequency electromagnetic detection to identify metallic contraband, with customers setting the “threat target” based on what they want to keep out. He describes how most teams handle alerts through secondary screening (often with hand wands), and why higher sensitivity (like detecting small blades) inevitably increases alarms and workload. They also cover the challenges of 24/7 operations versus event venues, where staffing is concentrated for a short window.The conversation goes beyond weapons: Michael highlights rising concerns like phones and smart devices as new forms of contraband and data risk, and explains why schools face unique challenges due to large perimeters and the creativity of students. He also outlines how Athena uses AI to increase accountability—confirming officers are present, resolving alarms with documented reasons, and providing audit trails and system health monitoring.Finally, Michael shares his vision for the next 3–5 years: a convergence of systems—weapon screening, X-ray, visitor management, access control, and video—into a unified security operations view, moving toward a more seamless, less manual “tunnel of truth” experience.About Michael Green:- https://www.athena-security.com/ - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelleonardgreen/About Federico Ramallo ✨👨‍💻🌎🚀 Software Engineering Manager | 🛠 Founder of DensityLabs.io & PreVetted.ai | 🤝 Connecting 🇺🇸 U.S. teams with top nearshore 🌎 LATAM engineers- 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/framallo/- 🌐 https://densitylabs.io- ✅ https://prevetted.ai🎙 PreVetted Podcast 🎧📡- 🎯 https://prevetted.ai/podcast- 🐦 https://x.com/PrevettedPod- 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/prevetted-podcast00:00 Introduction to Athena Security and Its Mission00:58 The Importance of Threat Detection Technology05:25 Innovative Screening Solutions for Public Safety07:23 Challenges in Different Environments11:45 Balancing Accuracy, Speed, and Convenience14:12 Common Failures in Security Technology16:37 Choosing the Right Detection Setup19:47 The Future of Threat Detection Technology