[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Police X-rays
Eric (and all),
1st, thanks for the article... Interesting how it says:
"A new machine on the market takes an X-ray image that penetrates
the clothing but not a person's
skin" -- and then it says: "and a result it shows
weapons, drugs and other items hidden under clothing or
in body cavities." (<- MY
highlight...)
I "think" that "we all" (sounds like I'm
from Texas) discussed this a year or so ago. The machine ((Secure
1000) is made by "Spectrum San Diego, Inc". (aka IRT
Corporation and Nicolet Imaging Systems).
I have the President and Technical Director's phone number if anyone is
interested....
Joel Baumbaugh (baumbaug@nosc.mil)
SSC-SD
At 08:27 AM 9/6/2001 -0500, Eric S. Pittman wrote:
Came across this
today while reading the local paper. Thought it might be of
interest to RadSafers.
Strip search or X-ray?
New technology might someday eliminate the need
for strip searches
BY KEN KOSKY Times Staff Writer
If you were jailed today, you'd have to take off your clothes
so a jail guard could inspect your body for drugs and
weapons.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
A new machine on the market takes an X-ray image that
penetrates the clothing but not a person's skin -- and a
result it shows weapons, drugs and other items hidden
under clothing or in body cavities.
People would much rather have an X-ray than be strip
searched, said Sanjay Sabnani, spokesman for the
Rapiscan Secure 1000. And, he said, it does a be
tter, quicker job.
The Secure 1000, which sells for $100,000 to $130,000, is
already in use in California prisons and other places. And
the radiation involved in a scan, 5 microREMS, is
extremely low.
"It's the equivalent of watching TV for 15 minutes from an
average viewing distance," Sabnani said.
Porter County Jail Warden Joe Widup said jail officials
have seen the Secure 1000 in trade publications, but he
doesn't see it being purchased in the near future because
of the cost.
"I also think a need would have to be determined," Widup
said.
"If the incidents (of smuggling) went up, that would cause
us to require something like that."
He said the jail hasn't received any challenges to its strip
search policy, perhaps because they strictly follow federal
court rulings and laws. Female guards search female
inmates and male guards search males. Only people
arrested on felonies are strip searched. People arrested on
lesser charges are only strip searched if, instead of
bonding out of jail, they stay and are place
d in with the jail's general population. The jail doesn't
search body cavities in any case. Widup said the jail
hasn't had a problem with contraband getting through using
the current method of pat-downs, a metal detector and
strip searches, so obtaining the Secure 1000 might not be
a top priority, at least right now.
But Sabnani said the Secure 1000 is perhaps the best way
to stop contraband because it does check body cavities
and it can extremely tiny objects. And, unlike a metal
detector, it sees items even if they're not made of metal. It
is able to detect such items as dynamite, C-4 explosive,
ceramics, graphite fibers, packaged narcotics and bundled
currency.
"This actually picks up anything external to the tissue,"
Sabnani said.
"It is as thorough as a cavity strip search."
The Secure 1000 is also touted as being safer for the jail
guard, since he can see the results on a computer monitor
placed away from the inmate. Another advantage is that
body images taken by a Secure 1000 can be saved and
used as evidence of a smuggling attempt.
Still, Sabnani said that a prison or business often needs to
experience problems with traditional methods before
turning to the Secure 1000.
"In our business, it's the negative that drives (sales),"
he
said.
"People have qualms ... unfortunately it becomes a
function of how bad things get." Sabnani said the Secure
1000 was launched for sale on a widespread basis in 1999
and has grown in sales every year since. Aside from being
used in prisons and customs, it is also used in sensitive
businesses, like gem mining in South Africa.
The Secure 1000's use is not without controversy, as
groups like the ACLU have complained about the graphic
body images it produces.
But the populations that it is used on have generally
preferred it to strip searches, Sabnani said. Fears about
radiation are usually allayed, and the company is working
on addressing the fact that the Secure 1000 shows an
image of the human form, complete with genitalia and
breasts. Sabnani said technology is being developed that
would allow sensitive parts of the body to be "fuzzed,"
while still showing any contraband hidden near them. That
technology has not been requested by prisons because
the inmates have a reduced expectation of privacy. But
should the Secure 1000 be used in more mainstream
settings, like at school entrances, technology to disguise
body parts will be more important. The Secure 1000 is
manufactured by Rapiscan, Inc. for OSI, a public company
based in Hawthorne, Calif. Other similar products exist,
like BodySearch, manufactured by American Science and
Engineering of Billerica, Mass.
Ken Kosky can be reached at kkosky@howpubs.com or
(219) 462-5151, Ext. 354.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Eric S. Pittman
Health Physics
e-pittman@northwestern.edu
Phone (312) 503-1929
Fax (312) 503-0547
Northwestern University
Office Of Research Safety
B-106 Ward Building, W223
303 East Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
- References:
- Police X-rays
- From: "Eric S. Pittman" <e-pittman@northwestern.edu>