NYPD has some scary-sounding x-ray vans – and it’s refusing to talk about them

NYPD has some scary-sounding x-ray vans – and it’s refusing to talk about them



The Z Backscatter Van.


Uses: to uncovered drugs, human tracked people(as shown in the article source), etc.

The New York Police Department has equipped x-rays in some of its vans but it’s refusing to talk about them due to “security concerns.” Even though these x-ray vans reportedly cost $825,000 a piece, NYPD is staying completely silent about them and their purpose.

“Those are issues I’d prefer not to divulge to the public at this time,” NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said, NYMag reports. “I will not talk about anything at all about this — it falls into the range of security and counter-terrorism activity that we engage in.”

Main Source:NYPD has some scary-sounding x-ray vans – and it’s refusing to talk about them

While this isn't a new topic, looks like it is about to be covered more by the media, or at least again in a quest for more information shared to the public about these vehicles.

The Commissioner says the ACLU/New York Civil Liberties Union, and or any others will have to start a law suit before anything is revealed about the vans. Why not share more about them, instead of having the public, others, be worried, while keeping secret what they need to.

As these "back scatter" vans not only come off as invasive and have the potential to be abused-scanning homes without warrent for example and or hacked into- let alone it's speculated that they are more than just harmless x-rays.

Three years ago a website, ProPublica, sued to obtain info about the X-rays. They were denied the requested information. It's known for example, that the technology used to be used in airports as X-ray scanners.

Thoughts?

Title of thread is of the news article.

Other Sources:
NyPost
Business Insider

Related:(2012)NYPD deployed mysterious surveillance truck at OWS anniversary - www.abovetopsecret.com...

I hope the guys operating them enjoy their cancer.
Don't leave home without a clean pair of lead underwear boys.

Privacy issues aside:

10x the dose of a normal xray. This thing could cause cancer at anyone that gets hit by it... Could just be driving by minding your own business, get blasted by this thing and not even know it. poof suddenly you develop cancer. You should check out the reddit thread about this with xray technicians weighing in. There is a reason the regulations for x-ray use is so mindbogglingly strict.

a reply to: Tjoran

A pro for the medical industrial complex.

As a law enforcement body this asset would a lifesaver in a massive amount of situations and would be welcome in most areas of policing.
The worry is how easy is it to abuse. I don't need to explain the amount of invasiveness this would create. If they are fitted in vans then that means they passed all field tests and in some instances have been in use for x amount of time.
For those of you who want to stop the invasiveness then just paint your walls with new product available to counteract this x-ray machine. The paint is cheap and renders the machine useless. I will try post a link to the manufacturer.
England has known about this for ages and the criminal fraternity know how to counteract it.
On another note how welcome would this be to the 'peeping tom'.

a reply to: dreamingawake
Possibly designed to detect firearms and knives on the street?

In Australia, before you have an X-Ray, you are specifically asked whether or not you're okay with receiving a small amount of radiation. Of course you can have several X-Rays and not suffer any problems; it's only repeated exposure that is harmful, hence why the operators stand in protected areas. But, they still ask your consent, as they should.

If they really are planning to use these vans, you guys in NY gotta make sure this becomes common knowledge. Because high level criminals, the ones with a lot of money, are going to be investing in protecting their vehicles from the X-Rays, using technology that has existed for a long time. Any time there's a change in how things are done, people adapt. It's how people smuggle drugs internationally. An X-Ray van isn't gonna stop #.

originally posted by: chewi
As a law enforcement body this asset would a lifesaver in a massive amount of situations and would be welcome in most areas of policing.
The worry is how easy is it to abuse. I don't need to explain the amount of invasiveness this would create. If they are fitted in vans then that means they passed all field tests and in some instances have been in use for x amount of time.
For those of you who want to stop the invasiveness then just paint your walls with new product available to counteract this x-ray machine. The paint is cheap and renders the machine useless. I will try post a link to the manufacturer.
England has known about this for ages and the criminal fraternity know how to counteract it.
On another note how welcome would this be to the 'peeping tom'.

invasiveness!!! how bout saving your life, you may have the right to drive around and excecute people at will in America but do you now have the right to drive around and give them cancer too.
If your all pro for it let them blast your family with it and show us the positive effects.

Coupled with ELF weapons, this stuff makes assassination a doddle.

a reply to: PLAYERONE01
When did I condone it? I don't know what pushed your button but I am saying what this is used for in UK.
It could save lives in hostage situations amongst others. I don't agree with having it in the hands of law enforcement or our forces. It should be a medical breakthrough but we know it was developed for black ops.
Invasiveness also means assasinating you as well as peeping.
I live in England and am not an American policeman like you seem to think. Maybe my reply was worded wrong and led you to believe that in some way but hey if assuming things work for you carry on.

a reply to: Tjoran

Link the thread. "I saw something on reddit" isn't proof of anything. If you don't want to link the thread, at least link whatever the people you believe were linking to convince you.

Found the thread.

These are non-medical x-ray devices.
All companies that produce non-medical X-ray screening systems need to comply with the appropriate American National Standard Institute (ANSI) safety standards. The ZBV system fully complies with the applicable standards, including rigid adherence to the radiation dose limits prescribed in these standards.
Dose to Cargo: Less than 0.1 microSievert (μSv) per scan (equivalent to 10 microRem (μrem)), at an average speed of 5 km/h (3 mph) at a scan distance of 1.5 m (5 ft). Should a stowaway accidentally be scanned, the effective dose is well below the ANSI specified limit for accidental exposure and is equivalent to flying two minutes at altitude.

Edit AGAIN:

Before people get more up in arms, you can find a lot of information on this. This headline is ridiculous...
The ZBV system developed by AS&E uses innovative Z Backscatter technology, which ensures a low radiation dose that is safe for operators, cargo, and the environment.
All companies that produce non-medical X-ray screening systems need to comply with the appropriate American National Standard Institute (ANSI) safety standards. The ZBV system fully complies with the applicable standards, including rigid adherence to the radiation dose limits prescribed in these standards.
Dose to Cargo: Less than 0.1 microSievert (μSv) per scan (equivalent to 10 microRem (μrem)), at an average speed of 5 km/h (3 mph) at a scan distance of 1.5 m (5 ft). Should a stowaway accidentally be scanned, the effective dose is well below the ANSI specified limit for accidental exposure and is equivalent to flying two minutes at altitude.
You can find this information on the AS&E website
I'm trained as a Nuclear Energy worker. You can look up some standards on the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission Website
In Canada, the effective dose limits for the public is 1 mSv in one calendar year. Regular reporting and monitoring demonstrates the average annual effective doses to the public from activities licensed by the CNSC range from 0.001 to 0.1 mSv per year. The effective dose limits for a nuclear energy worker is set at 50 mSv in any one year and 100 mSv in five consecutive years.
So the average Canadian is hit with up to 100 times this per year even if you were accidentally scanned. And this is from activities licensed by the CNSC.
The total worldwide average effective dose from natural radiation is approximately 2.4 mSv a year.
That is the equivalent to being scanned by this thing 24 times per year. That is just from your typical breathing, eating food, and walking outside while being bombarded with cosmic radiation.
Even nuclear energy workers can get up to 50 mSv per year.
Now let me tell you this... 50mSv per year is VERY small.
The lowest dose that has ever been linked to an increased cancer risk is 100mSv per year. You could be scanned by this x-ray 1000 times over a year and you would BARELY be at the point where you have an increased cancer risk.

a reply to: dreamingawake

Do these people have any understanding of the laws they swear to uphold?

They are citizens who are tasked with upholding the law. We have no laws that place the police or government above the citizens. We are not supposed to have secret programs that infringe on our constitutional rights.

I am tired of law enforcement and government acting as is they are above the people the serve.

A note to all in authority in the US:

You are servants and representatives of the people, you are not our dictatorial leaders. Keeping secrets from the people is neither serving nor representing us. Your bosses, the citizens who pay your salaries through taxes have a right to know everything.

a reply to: Isurrender73
We are not supposed to have secret programs that infringe on our constitutional rights.

"Well If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" , And besides, penetrating radiation is good for you ....

The Z Backscatter® Van

FROM THE MANUFACTURER:

AS&E's Z Backscatter Van™ (ZBV) is a screening system built into a commercially available delivery van.The system's "drive-by" capability allows one or two operators to conduct X-ray imaging of vehicles and objects while the ZBV drives past.

The ZBV can be operated in stationary mode by parking the system and producing X-ray images of vehicles as they pass by. Screening can also be done remotely while the system is parked. Remote operation allows scanning to be done even in dangerous environments, while maintaining low-profile operation:

originally posted by: ShadowChatter

"Well If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" ,

I don't know if that was sarcasm or not.

Why don't just through away all of our civil liberties and ignore the constitution? The pesky constitution keeps us from being safe. We will be so much safer and happier once we give up all of our civil liberties.

Then we can be ruled by a small group of elitists who know what's better for us. Then we will all live in blissful peace and sing happy songs about pharmaceuticals.
End Sarcasm

Well, makes my experience with a van that backed up to our hotel door, and sat there for hours with the engine running (for air conditioning) with two people in it that didn't speak or move the whole time, make some possible sense!

It was somewhere in New Mexico, and just after I had revealed publicly my "abduction" type experiences. Those two people eventually turned off the engine in the evening, and got out (a man and a woman, in suits, carrying a big briefcase) and went into the room directly above ours.

I had one of those experiences in the night of trying to fight off some sort of control which paralyzes the body, and found my two year old sitting up awake. He just happened to be a big part of those previous experiences and talked openly about them.

I always had the sneaking suspicion that they were agents of some kind, just trying to investigate people who claim such experiences.

The van would make sense, if that was the case, then.

These have been around for years.....many a thread on them back in the day.

CX.

With policies like "Stop and Frisk" why would anyone in the City of New York think they have any privacy rights?

I, as well as many people I know, have no interest in ever stepping foot in that City for any reason whatsoever.


-dex

it is illegal to search with out a warrant!
so this should Not be aloude.

a reply to: buddha

I agree. But apparently the US Supreme Court thought differently in 1968 in Terry v. Ohio.

Maybe if used properly this policy might be okay, in a very few limited circumstances. But in a post 911 world, privacy laws are being discarded left and right in the name of "safety."


-dex

Let's look at this from a perspective of someone who isn't frothing at the mouth about all authorities being evil. New York is a massive commercial port handling shipments from all over the world, with container trucks going in and out by the hundreds every day. Any one of those containers could be used to smuggle just about anything, from people to megaton-class nuclear devices, and it's widely acknowledged that a Conex box would be the easiest way to move illicit cargo into the US from overseas. Being able to x-ray everything coming in (or going out) increases the chances that whatever is being smuggled will be found, as the only other option is manual searches, which have too many issues to list.

As for the "10x the radiation dosage" comments, 10x a negligible dose is still nothing to be worried about, the dangers of radiation exposure are massively overstated.