Posted on 01/24/2013 5:26:22 PM PST by haffast
The New York Police Department is testing a new device that can detect firearms concealed beneath layers of clothing.
Dubbed “T-Ray,” the machine detects terahertz radiation, a high-frequency electromagnetic natural energy that is emitted by people. It also detects the presence of hidden metal from a distance, The Wall Street Journal reported.
snip
The boxy machine can be hidden in a vehicle, allowing officers to discreetly scan their target and may provide an alternative to the NYPD's reliance on the controversial tactic of stop-and-frisk, where officers routinely search large numbers of men in high-crime areas, AFP reported.
snip
The program is being paid for by the U.S. Department of Defense, said Browne, who described the machine as a "multimillion” dollar device, although he wouldn't specify its cost.
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(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
There’s that angle but its kinda scary that someone in the DOD is pushing more and more military technology into police departments.
Let's hope so, since our bodies are emitting them.
Sure, but I also can’t find any information on whether this device transmits them or just receives.
There exist both passive and active devices. People are warm and emit T-rays merely by being blackbody radiators, whereas a colder gun doesn’t emit so many themselves, and possibly also reflects the less-intense T-rays coming from the sidewalk and surroundings. In which case the gun looks dark. They go through clothes. Active sensors are basically like radars, looking for reflections from metal, in which case guns would look bright. Then again, if you had a bunch of aluminum-foil silhouettes peppered about your undershirt and pants, you could probably detect the car with such a sensor in either case, because the occupants of said car would probably really, really, want to talk to you.
Well if the whole body emits them, then they could do a 2-d scan and look for blockages like the metal gun absorbing them. It’s basically some sort of infrared radiation.
Ya think, LOL.
Retired electronic tech, just wondering about the technology, haven't done much reading about it or it's present sophistication.
Think I read something about a new type of wi/fi using frequencies in the THz range.
It’s a passive system, it doesn’t emit radiation, it receives radiation given off naturally by the body:
NYPD testing scanners to reveal concealed guns - 1-19-2013
http://www.policeone.com/police-products/tactical/infrared/articles/4963686-NYPD-testing-scanners-to-reveal-concealed-guns/
Animation demonstrating operation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=R5taL-Xxxpw
Note dates...advance in a year’s time:
NYPD Developing Body Scanners to Detect Weapons, But Application May Still Be Years Away -01/18/2012 -
http://www.securitymanagement.com/news/nypd-developing-body-scanners-detect-weapons-application-may-still-be-years-away-009422
NYPD, Feds Testing Gun-Scanning Technology, But Civil Liberties Groups Up In Arms - 1-17-2012
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/01/17/nypd-testing-gun-scanning-technology/
On the market now:
WG Passive Terahertz Body Scanner
http://www.wi-ltd.com/security/Scanning_and_Screening/X_Ray_and_Screening_Systems/People_Scanners/WG_Body_Passive_Terahertz_Scanner
What do they need those for? Isn’t NY a gun free city?
lol
My thoughts exactly, although the first thing I thought of for some reason was a crescent wrench!
Illegal search and seizure, without any question.
I would contend it's a violation of the Fourth Amendment, but I can tell you how the argument will be made. The article states, "Dubbed “T-Ray,” the machine detects terahertz radiation, a high-frequency electromagnetic natural energy that is emitted by people."
It will be argued that they're not searching people or their persons, but the radiation they are emitting into the surrounding environs.
It's like a narc detector dog doesn't search your wall locker or car, but rather, "the air around it."
[[ “terahertz radiation, a high-frequency electromagnetic natural energy”
I did a google and there isn’t much definitive about it but it supposedly is less dangerous then x-rays. ]]
You’re misunderstanding how this works.
The device the police will use emits no radiation or energy _towards_ the subject at whom it’s being pointed.
It merely detects energy that is being radiated by the person. Hence, “electromagnetic NATURAL energy”.
The purpose is to bypass the the Constitutional protection of [unreasonable] search without reasonable suspicion. There is no “search”, per se (as there would be if the device in question transmitted a of signal _toward_ the subject, which would strike the subject and then be reflected back to the device for analysis.
Instead, the new device becomes a “passive observer” of something emitted by the individual subject (in this case, natural emissions given off by the human body). Just as a police officer who observed someone doing an illegal activity (such as breaking into a car) would have “probable cause” to apprehend the suspect, the terahertz scanner “observes” in its own way, and when it indicates to the officer that something “gun-like” is being carried by the individual, probable cause now exists to question the individual about same.
This is the rationale you will hear when the legality of these devices is argued in court.
Disarming residents of democrat voting districts is the surest way to drastically lower gun crime.
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Yeah, right, whatever!/sarcasm;)
Just another reason to avoid the city. If I ever have to go to NYC and have any contact with the NY”PD” I will demand a lawyer. I know several retired cops. I do not consider the NYPD to be a professional trained police force.
Fixed.
Magic +3 Chainmail and broadswords. Roll for initiative...
This is what happens when you abandon the Constitution for liberalism. You lose rights to a well-intentioned nanny state.
It makes perfect sense. The cops can work out all the bugs. They have a see thru wall type of sensor that works like radar. It’s supposed to be used in hostage situations and works a lot better than heat sensors because you can spot weapons.
This came about because of Iraq (heck the whole Middle East) where a lot of the dwellings have concrete walls surrounding them. Thermal sensors are useless in that type of scenario.
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