NYPD Testing T-Ray Device to See Through Clothes

New York Magazine – by Joe Coscarelli

NYPD boss Ray Kelly was his version of giddy yesterday while describing new technology that will allow police to just see straight through people’s clothing. As detailed by The Wall Street Journal, “The so-called T-Ray machine detects terahertz radiation, a high-frequency electromagnetic natural energy that is emitted by people and can penetrate many materials.” Kelly, in a speech at the Waldorf-Astoria, explained, “If something is obstructing the flow of that radiation, for example a weapon, the device will highlight that object.” After a demonstration, he added, “You get a sense of why we’re so hopeful about this tool.” And the government is footing the bill.

The “multimillion” dollar machine is being paid for by the U.S. Department of Defense, according to NYPD spokesman Paul Browne. For now, the tester device (pictured above) is large and could be mounted to a car, but eventually the deparment hopes “to get the T-Ray technology in a device small enough to carry on an officer’s gun belt,” the Journal reports.

While the sci-fi-style machine could eventually make the department’s controversial street stops obsolete, it comes with its own obvious civil-liberty issues, along with the chance of identifying, say, a hairbrush, wallet, or candy bar as something more dangerous.

“Any technology that allows police to peer into a person’s body or possessions raises a lot of questions,” said NYCLU director Donna Lieberman. “But to the extent that this technology reduces the abuse of stop-and-frisk that harms hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers every year, we’re intrigued by the possibilities.”

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/01/nypd-testing-t-ray-device-see-through-clothes.html

4 thoughts on “NYPD Testing T-Ray Device to See Through Clothes

  1. Note the extraordinary coincidence that NY leads the disarmament crusade and implements the most egregiously invasive authoritarian infrastructure in the world.

    Bloomberg is a dictatorial megalomaniac lording over his NY City (Bloombergistan) subjects. Having once stated that the police are his private army he is a prime example of why the people need armaments.

    1. Very well-said, Logan. You totally nail it.

      Plus, that knuckle-dragging goon Ray Kelly can stick his fat head in a microwave oven and hit “High” for about 3 minutes while tea-bagging an Insinkerator garbage disposal. I’m going to dance on that asshole’s grave while wearing a purple suit.

  2. I always have a good laugh when I hear one of these morons talking
    about something they don’t understand. “T” waves are just EM radiation
    just below infrared, frequency wise. Simply put it’s black body radiation.
    Probably wide band in the 1,000 nm range. There are two simple ways
    to defeat this thing, actively or passively. Actively just wear powered
    1,000 nm semiconductor laser which will blind the thing. Or just wear
    clothing with metal strands in the fabric. T waves don’t travel through metal
    and will be dispersed by the fabric.

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