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At least 50 U.S. law enforcement agencies quietly deployed radars that let them effectively see inside homes, with little notice to the courts or the public.


WASHINGTON — At least 50 U.S. law enforcement agencies have secretly equipped their officers with radar devices that allow them to effectively peer through the walls of houses to see whether anyone is inside, a practice raising new concerns about the extent of government surveillance.

Those agencies, including the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service, began deploying the radar systems more than two years ago with little notice to the courts and no public disclosure of when or how they would be used. The technology raises legal and privacy issues because the U.S. Supreme Court has said officers generally cannot use high-tech sensors to tell them about the inside of a person's house without first obtaining a search warrant.

The radars work like finely tuned motion detectors, using radio waves to zero in on movements as slight as human breathing from a distance of more than 50 feet. They can detect whether anyone is inside of a house, where they are and whether they are moving.

Current and former federal officials say the information is critical for keeping officers safe if they need to storm buildings or rescue hostages. But privacy advocates and judges have nonetheless expressed concerned about the circumstances in which law enforcement agencies may be using the radars — and the fact that they have so far done so without public scrutiny.

"The idea that the government can send signals through the wall of your house to figure out what's inside is problematic," said Christopher Soghoian, the American Civil Liberties Union's principal technologist. "Technologies that allow the police to look inside of a home are among the intrusive tools that police have."

Agents' use of the radars was largely unknown until December, when a federal appeals court in Denver said officers had used one before they entered a house to arrest a man wanted for violating his parole. The judges expressed alarm that agents had used the new technology without a search warrant, warning that "the government's warrantless use of such a powerful tool to search inside homes poses grave Fourth Amendment questions."

By then, however, the technology was hardly new. Federal contract records show the Marshals Service began buying the radars in 2012, and has so far spent at least $180,000 on them.

Justice Department spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said officials are reviewing the court's decision. He said the Marshals Service "routinely pursues and arrests violent offenders based on pre-established probable cause in arrest warrants" for serious crimes.

The device the Marshals Service and others are using, known as the Range-R, looks like a sophisticated stud-finder. Its display shows whether it has detected movement on the other side of a wall and, if so, how far away it is — but it does not show a picture of what's happening inside. The Range-R's maker, L-3 Communications, estimates it has sold about 200 devices to 50 law enforcement agencies at a cost of about $6,000 each.



http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/01/19/police-radar-see-through-walls/22007615/

This seems like it's more of a privacy threat than a protective measure for officers
I can see this working well in some cases but not in others though.

That said if the cops have them I hope they sell them to good old civies like myself and I'm sure others who have a need for them  ;D

This seems kinda cool, I'm not one of those freaks that care about their "privacy".
I believe that those who are innocent and have nothing bad to hide shouldn't care about this.

I'm just waiting for some news article
Police officer uses radar device alongside hidden camera to determine if women are in a change room  ;)
You know the simple things in life
(Uses radar to make sure it's safe to adjust the camera and change the batteries then radar to scan the 50 feet surrounding the area while doing that task)

If you have nothing to hide then they should have no reason to search you or your property w/o probable cause and a warrant granted by a constitutionally sworn in judge. Liberty typically doesn't flourish among populations that have this sort of trusting mindset of governments. Also, go figure that it's on the front and center post on the Drudge Report.

Who defines what "bad" is?

I know why some people might be concerned about their privacy and all that but this is good and police will not go around your neighborhood trying to x-ray women changing clothes. At-least this way they can know if someone is hiding drugs or weapons inside their houses.

Na I don't think it can detect guns weapons or drugs just yet it says movement like breathing
It might be able to find immigrants etc though or perhaps some animal breeding house since there seems to be a market for pets.
http://www.cyterra.com/products/ranger.htm

It has fire fighter applications as well so can see it being a purchasable item someday in the future.
_
RANGE-R is a controlled item under the International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR). It may be exported with proper authorization by the U.S. Department of State.
RANGE-R complies with Part 15 rules and is certified by the FCC for operation in an urban environment (FCC ID: YKD-25TWD3000).

This is motion detector, there is no image produced. Not much privacy is invaded.

New police radars can 'see' inside homes  -  Land of the Fee Home of the Slave
Requiring warrants and the idea of privacy is pretty much over, huh?

Everyone needs privacy. Maybe you don't care because it was never a problem for you so far.
And you are putting too much trust that even if you are innocent abuses can't happen. : /

It's good if there are some bad guy hiding in a building
It's bad for our privacy if they're check our house without permission....

How many of you are long on the military industrial complex? :)

Until they come for you. What about your bitcoin terrorist money? Nobody cares about privacy until they lose theirs. Then they are shocked at how no one seems to care about their outrage.  

My question about this device is, "can I get one?" Maybe I should see what's going on at the police station? They are my employees after all.

There are many reasons for privacy.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=894207.msg9844527#msg9844527

I consider it my duty as an Anarchist to royally screw with tracking technology like this, I'm sure they won't be as sophisticated as police propaganda will try to make out.

They aren't good enough for spying yet, but eventually they will be used for filming people having sex. Fortunately that won't be a problem to most Bitcoin users.

Cool pretty much like the motion detector in the Aliens :). I think this gadget does nothing with privacy. Police can "see" if someone is inside and where to find that person. This can save the life of police officers (and soldiers if armies utilizing similar stuff).

And know what you are doing since it can see any movement. It can see when you go to the bathroom lol when you have sex with your girlfriend, or anything else.
Someone will find ways to abuse this. : /

I wonder if they can see the leaves of weed wave in the wind from the AC.   ;D

Are there weed wave radar detectors available to detect these radar devices? If there are, does anyone know where to get one?

Will this kick the Smart Meter anti-radiation people into action? The radiation people should be fun to watch as they try to ban police radar because it is unhealthy and cancer causing.

:)

Just think. Maybe police can use the radar as an Internet kill switch, and a cell phone disabler... so nobody can call for help when they detect the police radar searching their home.

:)

Not really. You can see that something moving 26 feet away, but probably you will not know if that's me, my dog or an alien :).

Are you saying police are bad?

With the Maidsafe meshnet you will be able to use the internet without a ISP in the future. Now thats disrupting.

Are suggesting bad cops are good?  :)

Where can I buy this thing?

The future is here!

I really can see that happening not all police are bad but there is enough that this sort of thing could happen.

The post I did disappeared, but I said someone using this to stalk others will know if you are home and if you have a dog, alien, girlfriend, etc.
It's like the discussion of metadata that some think is harmless. But it can give a lot of information and be abused. : /

First they put scans on our phones, then on the internet, then at home, next will be the chips inside us at birth to control us everywhere, then you'll see the "alien detector" is not as cool.

If you really believe this, then you won't mind if I discuss your pornography preferences with your mother.

You're tryin' to say you are his father?   ;D

How many fathers does he have? ???

Scary shit...sounds like cops don't need a warrant any more to see if a fugitive is in his home.

Its display shows whether it has detected movement on the other side of a wall and, if so, how far away it is — but it does not show a picture of what's happening inside.

You can put something on your wall that will block the signal.

Well apparently there are raids happening within localbitcoins, and some guy commented on how he was carrying his trezor on his car and the police took his trezor full of bitcoins. We are heading towards an orwelian state.

Do you have any links?

This does not seem like a very healthy invention. I am curious, can this new device tell the police if the people inside the building
is black or white?

Okay, I laughed at this :D

It has to do with the intensity of the radar, and the amount of reflection. Everybody knows that black absorbs energy more, and white reflects energy more.

 :D

Hell, this reminds me of the stuff we watch in futuristic movies.

Heck yeah it's pretty sweet, though kind of scary. Makes you wonder what the military has without telling us

A futuristic movie from 1990...

https://i.imgur.com/RFlAYN5.jpg

neat, now they can shoot children (and of course adults) inside their houses, not just out on the streets, so much easier  >:(

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/denver-police-shoot-kill-woman-struck-officer-car-28498963

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Tamir_Rice

Dam i just cannot recall what movie this is but i know i seen it.

Total Recall

LOL. I'm pretty sure that was sarcasm.
"For the memory... of a lifetime... recaaaall, recaaaall, recaaaaaaaall." (http://www.hark.com/clips/yplcmfmdnf/homepage_embed?width=480&autoplay=true#)

"see through wall" technology is not very new:
http://youtu.be/5vSrDTTvZtQ

@Schleicher, (oYo) yes he can totally recall what movie that is xD
There was a series with that name that I liked http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159920/episodes?season=1&ref_=tt_eps_sn_1 It's more like blade runner lol but with the recall company and everything.
https://www.youtube.com/user/TotalRecall2070/videos

They could do something useful for once and release see-through-girls-clothes x-ray glasses. Then maybe I would support that.

Goverments are telling us right now : "Screw Privacy" .
This is so bad and will be used badly by some dirty officers , It can be used in good situations too tho .

I remember seeing ads for those in comics when I was young. (Bottom left corner of image.)

https://arrowinflight.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/johnsonsmith74.jpg

Welcome to the future I guess. To bad we can only move towards the future and not return to the past.
I wouldn't mind returning to a more simpler time.

A simpler time when you had to fight off the saber tooth from your meat? Or a simpler time when you had to face old age at 39? Or a simple time when the strongest killer in your town would simply rape your wife and daughters?

Every new generation of humans believes it was always better in the past or the future will be amazing... One of the mechanism that keep a lot of us from their reality, and possibly suicidal thoughts of a meaningless life.

 :)

Naw. A simpler time when you could take down a giant like Goliath with a sling and a stone.

:)

And that was so amazing, he got a permanent place in the bible. No follow ups though  :)

I always had heard that Harrison Ford ad-libbed this scene.

:)

I believe he was pretty sick that day (food poisoning or something). He could not do the fight. Now that scene is legendary... 

:)

Naive. They aren't going to tell you what they REALLY have.  :)

Trusting the police on what they say.... Not easy.  :)

Anyway you need to hold this thing in hands and try to use it to tell if it really works. Is this just a prototype or this for sell? Is it possible to buy it?

I'll have to point you back to the first post and follow the link of the original article.