NEW YORK, NY — Reports from the Business Insider inter alia surfaced earlier this week that the NYPD has been using new “X-ray vans.”
These vans are specially equipped to allow police officers a visual of what’s happening inside your home or car.
The program detailing the use of the vans is supposed to be kept under wraps, and officials refuse to say much of anything about it.
The police are calling these vans “Z Backscatter Vans.”
Here is how it works.
They will take the vans out onto the streets near residential communities and other traffic.
As they travel, the Backscatter Van allows them to see the contents of nearby cars or homes.
Literally can see past the walls and find out if there are drugs or guns, or other activity that they may deem worthy of a raid and arrest.
It should come as no surprise that they are justifying the use of this invasive technology by calling it a “counter-terrorism measure.”
This is raising widespread concern about not only violations of privacy, but also health risks.
Bill Bratton, NYPD Commissioner, has so far refused to release any documentation about the vans when asked, according to reports.
“Those issues I’d prefer not to divulge to the public at this time,” he said, adding, “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.”
For now, if you see any suspicious vans nearby, you might want to protect yourself accordingly.