Van-Mounted Body Scanners With X-Ray Detection

By: Jennifer Hong
08/27/2010 09:28 AM ET

Van-mounted body scanners with x-ray detection. American Science & Engineering is now selling van-mounted scanners that can x-ray the body of vehicles. The van-mounted x-ray vehicles, known as Z backscatter vans, are now scanners for local law enforcement agencies.

American Science & Engineering, based in Billerica, Massachusetts, is the company making the Z backscatter vans. They are a state-of-the-art x-ray detection solution to combat terrorism and smuggling. They have already sold over 500 of these x-ray vehicles and are willing to sell the vans to local law enforcement agencies.

They are capable of x-raying passing vehicles on the road to check out their cargo. However, their biggest customer is the U.S. military, which uses the vehicles to search for car-bombs in war zones. It is unclear how law-enforcement agencies will be using these highly vehicles. Jay Stanley of ACLU’s Technology and Liberty program wrote about the possible complication that technology could have in the hands of the law.

“If they are in fact being used on public streets, that would be a major violation of the Constitution,” Jay Stanley wrote. “In fact, it’s hard to believe that any counsel at any government agency would sign off on allowing these vans to be used in that way. The use of this technology constitutes a search, and under the Fourth Amendment, a search can only be carried out with a warrant. There are exceptions to that, but none of them would apply if this technology is being used on public streets.”

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