A stunning array of powerful surveillance tools and weapons are now available to local police, from software that scans online activity and delivers instant “threat ratings,”, to surplus military equipment like armored vehicles. Just add to the mix “hand-held radars that can basically see through any wall.”
Radars like the cutting-edge “Range-R” from L3 CyTerra allow police to see through up to 12 inches within seconds, revealing the location and movements of people within buildings via Doppler motion detectors. They can easily penetrate most materials, except for large pieces of metal, including, according to the manufacturers, “poured concrete, concrete block, brick, wood, stucco glass, adobe, dirt, etc.”
They can event detect breathing, “making it difficult for individuals to hide from RANGE-R,” as its website boasts. Still more radars can produce 3-D images and attach to drones.
Watch a demo below, provided by L3 CyTerra to USA Today:
These devices are marketed to police, search and rescue teams, and firefighters. L3 CyTerra has already sold 200 to 50 difference agencies, at $6,000 a pop.
The ACLU has condemned their use as intrusive, with attorney Nathan Freed Wessler noting to CBS, “[J]ust because they are useful doesn’t mean they should be unregulated by the law.”
“If police wanted to enter my home to conduct search or make an arrest, it has always been clear they would have to get a warrant from a judge first because the home is the most private place we have,” he added. “The rule should not be any different because they are using powerful radar gear instead of breaking down my door.”
“The idea that the government can send signals through the wall of your house to figure out what’s inside is problematic,” said another ACLU employee.
USA Today reports that, for the most part, the introduction of these radars has been low-key and unnoticed. The Supreme Court has already struck down the use of thermal cameras without a warrant, but radars have yet to gain much attention in court cases.
One appeals court case tackled the technology in December after police used the radar to arrest a man violating his parole. The court ultimately upheld law enforcement’s actions, but judges remarked that “the government’s warrantless use of such a powerful tool to search inside homes poses grave Fourth Amendment questions.” Justice Department officials are now reviewing the case.
