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Van-Mounted Body Scanners Mock Your Idea Of Privacy
Van-mounted body scanners under development by the New York City police department are infrared technology that will enable police officers to look under your clothing to see if you are carrying guns.
(Body scan on the street)
The mechanism, which the NYPD is developing with help from the U.S. Department of Defense, currently only works at a short range of three or four feet. But [NYPD Commissioner Ray ] Kelly thinks they can improve it to scan citizens from a distance of up to 25 meters away. He announced this morning that the gadget will be mounted on NYPD vans with "the infrared rays shooting up the street at the person," as the Post puts it.The device detects the radiation emitting from a person’s body, and it can't penetrate metal, so a concealed gun can be spotted from the image captured by the detector's lens.
In the 2006 movie Ultraviolet, the police make use of scanners placed at security portals to determine whether or not an individual is carrying weapons, and if so, how many. (Skip to about 1'10" to hear the quote, start from the beginning for stylish ultra-violence.)
Daxus - "How much weaponry does she have left?"
Daxus Aide 1 - "Based on scans taken from the security portal..." [pause'
Daxus Aide 1 - "...plenty."
Daxus [takes a deep breath]
Daxus "O-kay."
Via Gothamist; thanks to Moira for the tip and excellent (as always!) references.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/18/2012)
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