Los Angeles is first in US to install subway body scanners

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Los Angeles' subway will become the first mass transit system in the U.S. to install body scanners that screen passengers for weapons and explosives, officials said Tuesday.

The deployment of the portable scanners, which project waves to do full-body screenings of passengers walking through a station without slowing them down, will happen in the coming months, said Alex Wiggins, who runs the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's law enforcement division.

The machines scan for metallic and non-metallic objects on a person's body, can detect suspicious items from 30 feet (9 metres) away and have the capability of scanning more than 2,000 passengers per hour.

"We're dealing with persistent threats to our transportation systems in our country," said Transportation Security Administration Administrator David Pekoske. "Our job is to ensure security in the transportation systems so that a terrorist incident does not happen on our watch."

In addition to the Thruvision scanners, the agency is also planning to purchase other body scanners — which resemble white television cameras on tripods — that have the ability to move around and hone in on specific people and angles, Wiggins said.
"We really want to be effective and we need the ability to have a fixed field of view, but we also need to be able to move that field of view as necessary," Wiggins said. "Deploying these technologies together gives us that accuracy and minimizes any delays."

Signs will be posted at stations warning passengers they are subject to body scanner screening. The screening process is voluntary, Wiggins said, but customers who choose not be screened won't be able to ride on the subway.

So more intense pervasive public surveillance. I know there'll be those people that defend it with the usual 'if you have nothing to hide' garbage. But not only are your movements through many transit systems constantly tracked with electronic cards and standard cameras now there'll be full body scans at every subway station. Refusal to be scans means being refused public transport.

But I guess again if you've got nothing to hide. Oh and as to the comment about persistent terrorist threats on US transit systems.

list of terrorist attacks involving railway systems

Going back over the last two decades, there have been zero in America.

It´s so funny to observe "The Land Of The Free" from the outsides, better than any comedy show or movie ever was!

It is a waste of money.

Another excuse to blow $$.

originally posted by: DerBeobachter
It´s so funny to observe "The Land Of The Free" from the outsides, better than any comedy show or movie ever was!

You're free to take the sub or not.

originally posted by: DerBeobachter
It´s so funny to observe "The Land Of The Free" from the outsides, better than any comedy show or movie ever was!

I'm aware that you are from a smaller country and might not get out much, but our country is comprised of 50 states.

The particular state we are talking about is California. A state that in no way represents what the majority of our states believe, allow or do.

Speaking of freedom... any word yet when they are going to change the name of your country to Northern Syria?

Asking for a friend.

a reply to: DerBeobachter

Yeah, but don't you guys need spork permits?

You must get cancer if you want to use the public transportation you paid for with your taxes.

This stupid electronic surveillance grid sh!t needs to stop.

In Iowa they just implemented facial recognition in a school.

Quietly, with a think of the children undertone.

Interesting topic. Some here will see this as an unnecessary invasion of privacy and some a small price for being safer. Then there's the CT's that'll see it as ongoing, increasing fear to get us to this point.

I think it's an unnecessary invasion of privacy. In this case the needs of the many outweigh the needs.... Too much lost for so little gain.

How do they 'scan' you? What are commuters being exposed to on a daily basis?

Do we have the right not to be exposed to harmful radiation?

Do we have the right to privacy?

I believe the answer is YES to all.

Making people safer?

Monsters!

a reply to: Metallicus
You don't have a right to public transportation though, no constitutional rights have been infringed, it is your choice to use the transport and be scanned...or not.

originally posted by: Metallicus
How do they 'scan' you? What are commuters being exposed to on a daily basis?

Do we have the right not to be exposed to harmful radiation?

Do we have the right to privacy?

I believe the answer is YES to all.

Cellphones.

Second line.

Subway in LA ?

originally posted by: CornishCeltGuy
a reply to: Metallicus
You don't have a right to public transportation though, no constitutional rights have been infringed, it is your choice to use the transport and be scanned...or not.

I don't use public transportation so I don't have a problem, however, it is still disgusting that we live in such a nanny state. Freedom is much more important than safety for anyone that cares about personal liberty.

wait LA has a subway? does anyone use it?

a reply to: Metallicus
I was surprised that you guys get scanners on your public transportation befere the UK.
I wonder if the London mayor will copy your example.

a reply to: dug88

Gun control! Terrorism! Knives!

...minimizes any delays. The screening process is voluntary, Wiggins said, but customers who choose not be screened won't be able to ride on the subway.

It's like all the dystopias from sci-fi books and late 20th Century movies are slowly becoming a reality. Demolition Man, Robocop, Judge Dredd, Matrix etc

If the manufacturers can make a killing off these, then expect them to spread to subways even more. Surely won't be limited to that for of transportation either. I imagine car and passenger ferry boats setting up a scanning system as well.

a reply to: dug88

From your link, I think that we have nailed the problem with the comments from one random civilian:

"I guess it is a good, precautionary thing," Andrea Kirsh said, a 22-year-old student from Corvallis, Oregon, who was travelling through Los Angeles' Union Station on Tuesday. "It makes me feel safe. As a civilian I think we often don't know what to look for or what we would be looking for."

First Point: The only reason someone would "guess" that something like this is a good thing is because they either have not truly considered it, don't care about the 4th Amendment, or are a big-government person who relies on others for their own personal safety--or a combination of the three. If this 22-year-old student actually cared enough to consider the negative ramifications of such things that equate to either 'let us search you without a warrant or you cannot use public transportation that your tax dollars probably/possibly pay for," she might be singing a different tune.

Citizens should not have to consent to being searched in order to travel within the United States, let alone within a city on public transportation. Private transportation is a different consideration, such as airlines.

Second Point: The only reason that civilians don't know what to look for is because they don't take the initiative to research it and get trained on it. It's really not that hard, but there is a majority of society who is content feeling that other entities--usually government-controlled--will be enough to protect them. Then, when terrible things happen because people don't understand situational awareness and the need to have personal protection on them, suddenly it becomes a cry to take away rights and add more restrictions on people who tend not to commit atrocities in the first place.

Here's the thing, Los Angeles--you say right now that you're only looking for weapons and indicators that point to a mass-casualty incident, but weapons of ANY kind are already strictly prohibited on Metro buses, trains, and platforms. So, if there is already a law against it, plus signs up stating 'no weapons allowed,' plus security/police officers already present, shouldn't that be enough?

I mean, security guards, laws, and signs are enough for our children's schools, according to most people who would embrace this type of technology, so why is that different here?

And furthermore, why couldn't my dad, who actually has a CCDW permit in Cali, be able to use public transit with his lawfully carried weapon without possible harassment or jail time simple because he wants to get from point A to point B using public transportation?

This is idiotic, if you ask me. Hey American civilians--start taking personal responsibility for yourself and your situational-awareness skills, look up from you damn electronic device, and start paying attention to your surroundings. We don't need machines scanning us on escalators 'or else you can't ride this public transportation.'

originally posted by: toysforadults
wait LA has a subway? does anyone use it?

Haven't seen Tommy Lee Jones' best movie, "Volcano," have you?

But whomever thought an underground transportation system in a highly active earthquake zone was a good idea was...special.

Apparently people do ride it, though, but not a ton considering the size of LA.