The mechanism, which the NYPD is developing with help from the U.S. Department of Defense, using infrared technology currently only works at a short range of three or four feet. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly thinks they can improve it to scan citizens from a distance of up to 25 meters away. He announced this morning that the gadget will be mounted on NYPD vans with “the infrared rays shooting up the street at the person”.
Full story – HERE
Meh the constitution is outdated anyway *sarcasm*. I doubt this will actually come to fruition… we’ll see though. If this technology does happen to squeak through and is implemented I hope everyone in NYC carries around gun shaped pieces of metal just to mess with the cops.
Thoughts?
Hat tip: Mark, Ben, Kyle
Comments
18 responses to “NYPD Wants Mobile Weapon Scanners”
Next time I visit NYC I’ll make sure to get a shoulder rig for adult toys just to throw the police off.
NYC is so backwards it’s not even remotely funny. You are not allowed to carry a knife there *IF* it’s for the intent of committing crimes. Sounds reasonable right? EXCEPT that according to the State of New York, if you are carrying a knife THAT ALONE is proof that you intended to commit a crime with it. I’ll let that sink in for a minute……
I KNOW RIGHT?!
I actually think this will get through so that NYC can continue their campaign to ensure that the gang members feel safe in the streets.
Bloomie’s in charge. He would rather violate the constitution than force his judges to keep violent criminals behind bars. He’s smarter than everyone and can’t let us think for ourselves. Knowing him, he’d probably try to tie the use of scanners in with terrorism and start indefinitely detaining people. His foundation just latched onto my mayor and threw money at dude to fight “youth and gun violence” for the next four years. Ours was already pretty anti-gun anyway, but with our Detroit-like crime, we also lead the state in carry permits. Its getting to the point that everyone knows at least one person who has had to use it. I’ve got one eye open while the other looks for a home outside his jurisdiction because I can totally see this being used here to harass legal folks under the guise of looking for illegal guns, if it were to come to fruition.
hmmm. well it’s already a violation of the 2nd and 4th amendments. maybe they could lock me up without a trial and house soldiers in my house. then execute me for trying to speak out about how wrong the whole thing is.
If they have cause to be stopping this guy and making him stand still with his hands over his head, then they would be able to walk up to him and pat him down. You know… for officer safety. But if your sitting in your car… then I don’t think you have that search warrant exception. I’d love to see them defend this one.
But it’s really just a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist. Just go pat him down.
Seems like they watched the movie The Fifth Element for ideas on future law enforcement tactics.
sweet, now we can finally figure out how that damn three shell thing works.
…wasn’t that from Demolition Man?
fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu
It’s a slippery slope. If this kind of technology becomes widely used, it will just be another way for the government to harras law abiding gun owners.
“the infrared rays shooting up the street at the person”.
LOL, way to not understand basic science Commissioner. Next He’ll be telling us how the sun orbits the earth.
I also don’t see how this could be effective…Ok if you had just left the house after putting your gun on it could work but after a while my gun is the same temperature as my skin since I carry IWB.
3-4 feet?! Are the cops going to stalk people on the street like perverts while pointing a menacing object at them?
And… this is different than normal NYPD behavior in WHAT way, exactly?
Creepy. Question is, is it an invasion of your privacy – your 4th Amendment right not to be searched or seized without due process? Walking down the street minding your own business? Or in your own home? Anywhere you have a reasonable expectation of privacy, for sure it’s an invasion. Perhaps it would be less so in specifically secured areas, like sport arenas and high schools; places where one has been made aware of the surveillance before entering.
On the one hand, privacy rights. On the other hand, NYC circa 1992 was a warzone. Today it’s Disneyland. How much liberty would you be willing to trade for security? It’s a serious question, especially for us gunnies. Before you comment, imagine the sound of automatic rifle fire coming from the next block over while you’re trying to watch TV, like it frequently did when I was growing up in LA in the ’80s. Kinda makes your butt pucker up a little!
Guns were still banned in NYC in 1992. And in 1972, for that matter. “Liberty vs. security” has noting to do with Guiliani’s turnaround of NYC; he brought in a sea change in police enforcement (‘broken windows’) that worked… and which Bloomberg has largely reversed.
Yes, it was illegal to carry a firearm in NYC in 1992. Somehow, guns still got carried and shot, by both the bad guys and the good guys, at one another, all the time. And a lot of people got shot. To my knowledge, that law has not been changed. And yet, the crime rate has plummeted. How could this be? Perhaps… it’s the law enforcement? Modern policing, especially the focus on targeting illegal handguns in various ways such as the “stop-and-frisk” procedure, has had a tremendous effect in that town. Less illegal guns = less crime. I’ll say it again: ILLEGAL guns – those that are carried against the law by the kinds of guys that can’t pass a NICS check. If you want to talk about the NYC gun ban (which incidentally I think is unconstitutional horseshit), that’s another subject, but the OP was about new criminal law enforcement technology that has nothing to do with your constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
Are there laws against impersonating somebody carrying a gun? Or am I a criminal for even asking the question?