1/20/2015
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- At least 50 U.S. law enforcement agencies now have access to radar devices that enable them to effectively see into people's homes
- The technology has been available for more than two years, but only come to light during a federal appeals court hearing in Denver last month
- The use of the technology adds to growing concerns about government surveillance and also raises legal and privacy issues
At least 50 U.S. law enforcement agencies now have access to radar devices that enable them to effectively see into people’s homes and determine if anyone is inside.
Although the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and others have had the technology for more than two years, it only come to light during a federal appeals court hearing in Denver last month.
During the case it emerged that officers had used the Range-R device before they entered a house to arrest a man wanted for violating his parole.
The judges in the case expressed alarm that agents had used the technology without a search warrant in line with the U.S. Supreme Court's advice.
‘The government's warrantless use of such a powerful tool to search inside homes poses grave Fourth Amendment questions,’ said the judges.
The use of the technology adds to growing concerns about government surveillance and also raises legal and privacy issues.
Federal officials claim the tool is critical for keeping officers safe if they need to storm buildings or rescue hostages, but civil liberties groups aren’t convinced.
‘The idea that the government can send signals through the wall of your house to figure out what's inside is problematic,’ Christopher Soghoian, the American Civil Liberties Union's principal technologist, told USA Today.
‘Technologies that allow the police to look inside of a home are among the intrusive tools that police have.’
Range-R: At least 50 U.S. law enforcement agencies now have access to radar devices that enable them to effectively see into people’s homes and determine if anyone is inside
The device the Marshals Service and others are using, known as the Range-R, shows whether it has detected movement on the other side of a wall and, if so, how far away it is
Federal contract records show the Marshals Service began buying the radars in 2012, and has spent $180,000 on them.
The device the Marshals Service and others are using - known as the Range-R - detects movement on the other side of a wall and also how far away it is.
L-3 Communications, which makes the device, estimates it has sold about 200 Range-Rs to 50 law enforcement agencies at a cost of approximately $6,000 each.
The radar was first designed for use in Iraq and Afghanistan and is the latest example of battlefield technology finding its way home to civilian policing.
The radar was first designed for use in Iraq and Afghanistan and is the latest example of battlefield technology finding its way home to civilian policing
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