The New York Police Department (NYPD) has a super secret X-ray van that is purportedly used to fight terrorism and crime. However, it is now the subject of controversy, as some people have raised alarm about its potential to encroach citizens' privacy.
Known only as Z-backscatters, the fleet of unmarked white vans is deployed to detect terrorists in the city in addition to bomb-making and criminal activities such as narcotics trade. Its specifications, including the technology inside the vehicle, is shrouded in secrecy. Its price tag, however, indicates the level of technology inside the vehicle, as it is estimated to cost between $729,000 and $825,000.
The lack of information on the white vans drives some New Yorkers to wild speculations. For instance, there is the fear that the backscatter technology can mutate DNA and increase the risk of cancer, the Daily Mail reported. Civil rights group are also fighting for transparency.
"What are the protocols? Are there any health risks to us from the use of these X-ray vans? Are they getting a warrant when they use them?" Donna Lieberman told CBS New York. "So there are lots of unanswered questions," she added.
The X-ray vans have also been the subject of a court order. New York State Supreme Court Judge Doris Ling-Cohan has ordered the NYPD to reveal the details of the program.
"While this court is cognizant and sensitive to concerns about terrorism, being located less than a mile from the 9/11 site, and having seen firsthand the effects of terrorist destruction, nonetheless, the hallmark of our great nation is that it is a democracy, with a transparent government," the judge was quoted in the New York Post report.
The NYPD, however, is firm about keeping the X-ray van program secret.
"They're not used to scan people for weapons," Bill Bratton, New York Police Commissioner, said in the report. "The devices we have, the vehicles if you will, are all used lawfully and if the ACLU and others don't think that's the case, we'll see them in court - where they'll lose!"
