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donnay
01-11-2015, 05:23 PM
NYPD ordered to reveal details of its secret bomb-detecting X-ray vans that patrol the city

By Pete D'amato for MailOnline


A state judge has ordered the NYPD to turn over records about an X-ray van program the department has kept shrouded in secrecy.

New York State Supreme Court Judge Doris Ling-Cohan wrote in a decision back in December that radiation used in the vans raised concerns over health risks and said the department's claims about information being used by terrorists to evade detection was 'mere speculation.'

For years, the New York Police Department has deployed unmarked white vehicles known as Z-backscatter vans used to detect bomb-making equipment, narcotics and other material.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/01/11/2497B07000000578-2905442-image-a-11_1420991034147.jpg
Ordered: A state judge ruled the NYPD must turn over records about a program using X-ray vans, similar to that pictured here, that the department has kept shrouded in secrecy

But the NYPD has refused to make details of the program known to the public about how the department uses the vehicles to conduct searches, raising privacy concerns.

The low levels of radiation emitted by backscatter technology has also been shown to mutate DNA and thus increase the risk of cancer, which led the EU to ban backscatter technology in European airports back in 2011.

The danger posed by the type of radiation used in the scanners is not known, though studies suggest even at low levels, it can increase cancer risk, especially through prolonged exposure.

The scanners emit a 40 percent higher dose of radiation than an airport backscatter scanner, according to the court decision.

Though little is known about how the NYPD deploys the vans, they made an appearance in the book Bomb Squad, written by two investigative reporters from ABC.

The book describes how, during the 2004 Republican national convention in New York, drivers turning onto a street by the venue had to pass through two X-ray vans that scanned cars for explosives.

Continued... (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2905442/Court-orders-NYPD-reveal-details-secret-X-ray-vans-using-radiation-technology-banned-Europe.html)