NYPD: Terahertz scanner checks for concealed weapons

[AZRedhawk44]

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-readies-scan-and-frisk-article-1.1245663

Solution 1:  metal liner on IWB holster in irregular shape to break up gun outline.
Solution 2:  metal liner in cover garment

What metals and what thickness block terahertz radiation?  It's basically glorified IR, isn't it?

[Perd Hapley]

Shindig

[makattak]

Solution 3: Metal liner in shape of a tablet or smartphone.

[AZRedhawk44]

Isn't there some new winter coat out there with an aluminized mylar liner?  Columbia or someone like that makes it?

[41magsnub]

Will tinfoil jacket become a new meme?   

[T.O.M.]

Solution 3: Metal liner in shape of a tablet or smartphone.

How about a working tablet with a compartment for a small firearm???  Basically take an iPhone, put the hardware into one of the big tablets so it's functional, and leaves a void in the case for concealment...

[cordex]

How about a working tablet with a compartment for a small firearm???  Basically take an iPhone, put the hardware into one of the big tablets so it's functional, and leaves a void in the case for concealment...

That would require a very thin gun and a very thick tablet.

[AmbulanceDriver]

Looks like any metal (or even water, for that matter) will block THz radiation...   It's tucked into the niche between far IR and microwaves, 300GHz to 3000GHz...  or 1mm to 0.1mm

Of course, this does bring up all sorts of 4th amendment questions....   And if I recall correctly, didn't SCOTUS already say that using thermal imagers to find pot grows was verboten?  Don't see how this would be any different.

Yup:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyllo_v._United_States

and a link to the decision:  http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/533/27/case.html

It's very interesting to read the opinion written by Justice Scalia...  He's basically saying that using sense-enhancing devices to detect something that would otherwise not be detectable....  Here's a quote that I find interesting from Wikipedia:

Justice Scalia also discussed how future technology can invade on one's right of privacy and therefore authored the opinion so that it protected against more sophisticated surveillance equipment

I imagine that when this THz scanner gets challenged in court, it'll be ugly for the NYPD.

[Jocassee]

Shindig

This was my precise thought

[Blakenzy]

Looks like any metal (or even water, for that matter) will block THz radiation...   It's tucked into the niche between far IR and microwaves, 300GHz to 3000GHz...  or 1mm to 0.1mm

Of course, this does bring up all sorts of 4th amendment questions....   And if I recall correctly, didn't SCOTUS already say that using thermal imagers to find pot grows was verboten?  Don't see how this would be any different.

Yup:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyllo_v._United_States

Hey man... this is NYC we're talking about. Property of King Bloomie.

And why does their test subject have to be an urban looking black youth?...

[BobR]

Kelly, who first discussed the possibility of using this technology last year, said the NYPD has been working with the London Metropolitan Police and a contractor “to develop a tool that meets our requirements.”

Developed with the help of London Police, that is pretty telling. They don't have that pesky 4th Amendment to worry about, do they?

bob

[Tallpine]

That would require a very thin gun and a very thick tablet.

I happen to have my hands on a couple.

[Perd Hapley]

I happen to have my hands on a couple.

Of invitations?

[G_P]

Have everyone stick gun shaped tinfoil cutouts in their pockets.

Sent from my C5120 using Tapatalk 2

[Viking]

Have everyone stick gun shaped tinfoil cutouts in their pockets.

Sent from my C5120 using Tapatalk 2

I was thinking something else...certain parts of the male anatomy perhaps, sewn into the back of one's jacket/shirt. Or a short text indicating that someone should perform self-copulation.

[brimic]

It actually is racist.

[AJ Dual]

It actually is racist.

Darn tootin, they could have chosen any color at all in the digital display to denote the gun, but they chose.... BLACK. 

[Perd Hapley]

How is this different from the body-scanners at airports, and why is one technology used over the other, in each situation?


(I mean, tech-wise, not 4th-amendment-wise.)

[AJ Dual]

How is this different from the body-scanners at airports, and why is one technology used over the other, in each situation?


(I mean, tech-wise, not 4th-amendment-wise.)

Opposite (nearly) end of the EM spectrum. The nudoscopes of the TSA use weak X-rays that go through clothes & hair, but not "too far" into denser things like your skin, or guns. They kind of bulldoze/ice-pick their way in by virtue of being such a short wavelength/high-energy photon.

The terrahertz stuff that straddles the IR/microwave boundary kind of slip through your clothes by virtue of their long wavelength. Kind of the opposite of how the door in your microwave blocks the energy because the holes in the screening grid are the wrong size. This stuff is the right size to slip through.

If you remember the "night shot" camcorders that were all the scandal/rage for a time because you could use one with a filter to see through a woman's blouse to her bra, it's more akin to that than the X-rays.

[AmbulanceDriver]

One thing to note also is that the THz radiation is actually emitted by anything above about. 10 degrees Kelvin...  So this is basically a THz camera, there's no energy leaving the device...  The THz radiation is blocked by the gun (or other object) to create a shadow.

[Regolith]

Will tinfoil jacket become a new meme?   

This is the NYPD we're talking about. Any obvious attempts to foil their new toy can be guaranteed to trigger a stop and frisk.

[Hawkmoon]

How is this different from the body-scanners at airports, and why is one technology used over the other, in each situation?


(I mean, tech-wise, not 4th-amendment-wise.)

One difference is that one can choose not to fly.

I know that's not always practical. Beyond that, though, at an airport you can opt out of the scanner and subject yourself to an alternate screening procedure. (Not sure exactly what that is these days, but it's there.) If "they" are just scanning us while we walk down the street, there's no opportunity to opt out.

Oops -- sorry, I my response isn't tech-wise. Not surprising, since I am not tech-wise.

[Jamisjockey]

This is the NYPD we're talking about. Any obvious attempts to foil their new toy can be guaranteed to trigger a stop and frisk.

I think that's the point. Overwhelm the users of the technology to make it irrelevant.