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New Devices Will Search for Explosives in Subways
NY Times ^ | November 12, 2005 | AL BAKER and SEWELL CHAN

Posted on 11/12/2005 6:01:49 PM PST by neverdem

Adding a layer of technology to manual searches of bags and packages taken into the New York City subway, police officials said yesterday that they would begin using mechanized devices that check for conventional explosives.

At various stations beginning next week, riders will encounter officials using either hand-held devices that resemble portable vacuum cleaners or larger tabletop ones that look like fax machines. Both work the same way, the police said, by analyzing a cloth swab that is passed over a bag or package to test for the presence of such things as ammonium nitrate or hydrogen peroxide, which was an ingredient in the terrorist bombings in the London transit system in July.

Officials said the new technology, similar to that in use at some airports, would make searches less intrusive because officers using it would not need to open as many bags. Made by several manufacturers, the devices will be used in a test phase of undetermined length.

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly continues to push for technological advances in a police force that he believes was lagging in that area before he took over. "Information is the key to so much in policing and law enforcement," Mr. Kelly said in a recent interview. "That is our goal: to see a lot more technology in the hands of police officers."

Since the re-election of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Tuesday, Mr. Kelly has rolled out one initiative after another. On Wednesday, he announced that officers in select commands would be getting minicomputers to retrieve information instantly from departmental databases rather than have to wait several minutes.

In all, the police said, about a dozen machines will be used in the subways, with the locations selected each day and subject to change as a way to disrupt any potential reconnaissance...

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; Technical; US: District of Columbia; US: New York; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: ammoniumnitrate; counterterrorism; explosives; h2o2; hydrogenperoxide; nh4no3; nyc; subway

1 posted on 11/12/2005 6:01:51 PM PST by neverdem
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To: neverdem
test for the presence of such things as ... hydrogen peroxide...

If I'm not mistaken that might mean lots of >blonds< are gonna have trouble getting on the subway. Might have to be ...ummm...patted down.

prisoner6

2 posted on 11/12/2005 6:07:55 PM PST by prisoner6 (Right Wing Nuts hold the country together as the loose screws of the left fall out!)
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To: neverdem

Better have a special set of clothes and shoes for when you go to the range. Take a cab, not the subway.

Smokeless contains nitroglycerin, which will make a bomb detector ping you out!


3 posted on 11/12/2005 7:10:52 PM PST by DBrow (Ezex! Here it is!)
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To: DBrow

Wow, how much & why?


4 posted on 11/12/2005 9:42:48 PM PST by norraad ("What light!">Blues Brothers)
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To: prisoner6

Our bodies produce hydrogen peroxide to fight infection.


5 posted on 11/12/2005 10:28:54 PM PST by ncountylee (Dead terrorists smell like victory)
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To: neverdem
test for the presence of ... hydrogen peroxide, which was an ingredient in the terrorist bombings in the London transit system in July.

Don't some teeth whiteners use H2O2, or do they all use carbomer peroxide?

Anyway, I thought H2O2 wasn't very stable anyway, often breaking down into H2O liquid and half O2 gas, so I guess the machines will only detect it when it's of sufficient quantity not to have evaporated or dissociated completely already. I always wonder how these terrorists get their chemicals.

6 posted on 11/13/2005 12:21:58 AM PST by heleny
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To: ncountylee

I suspect the detector picks up triacetone triperoxide, the explosive Al Quaeda calls "the mother of Satan". Easy to make and very unstable.

A reporter with a degree in writing and no technical background may "shorten" this to hydrogen peroxide, something he is more familiar with.


7 posted on 11/13/2005 2:51:54 PM PST by DBrow (Ezex! Here it is!)
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To: norraad

Is your question how much nitroglycerin?

Smokeless powder is a mix of high-nitrogen nitrocellulose (guncotton) and nitroglycerin, with a coating to make flow easier, retard ignition, and reduce static sensitivity. There are triple base powders that also contain nitroguanidine.

As for how much, that varies.

Why? nitroglycerin is a pretty good way to store energy, if you wish it relesed in a very short time. The mix between the propellants, the grain size, and the coating all contribute to controlling barrel pressure and burn rate.

Extracting the nitro is very dangerous. Nobel got his money by mixing it with stuff to make it safe, I think it's better to keep it that way.


8 posted on 11/13/2005 3:00:51 PM PST by DBrow (Ezex! Here it is!)
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To: neverdem
Per Reuter,


NYC SUBWAYS SET TO BE 'WIRED FOR CELLPHONES'... Then they can use cellphones to remote control somethin' below like in London?

9 posted on 02/03/2006 1:40:56 PM PST by hamboy
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To: hamboy

thanx, bfl


10 posted on 02/03/2006 3:38:45 PM PST by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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