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       January 25, 2012

(CNN Student News) -- January 25, 2012 Detection Technology AZUZ: Protection versus privacy: that`s the debate at the center of our next report from CNN`s Mary Snow. It focuses on a new technology that would scan people walking on the street for concealed weapons. The New York Police Department is developing these scanners and hoping to use them to keep the city safer. But some critics say this idea goes too far. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARY SNOW, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): The stuff of science fiction is edging closer to reality on New York City streets. If you were carrying a gun, it would look like this with technology the city`s police force is developing with the U.S. Defense Department. The device would read the energy of a person`s body. COMM. RAY KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE: Terahertz is a radiation that, in essence, comes from lots of things, but can come from the human body. What it doesn`t penetrate is metal or objects similar to metal. SNOW (voice-over): And the commissioner says since the radiation can`t penetrate metal, it makes the outline of a gun visible. The detector looks like this, and the plan is for it to be operated from inside a vehicle. SNOW: Right now these devices only work from a couple of feet away, and the NYPD is hoping to stretch that to about 80 feet. SNOW (voice-over): Just the possibility of using this technology is setting off alarms among veteran civil liberties advocate Norman Siegel. SNOW: Your first reaction when you heard about this? NORMAN SIEGEL, ATTORNEY: Oh, my God. It`s Fantasy Land. It`s Orwellian. It`s "1984" coming to New York City. And if it takes hold in New York City, it will ripple all across America. And that`s not the America that I grew up in. SNOW (voice-over): But the New York Siegel grew up in has changed dramatically. Police surveillance cameras blanket the city following 9/11 and continue to expand. SIEGEL: If this goes forward, the government will not only know where you are, who you`re associating with, but also know what`s in your pockets and what`s in your body. SNOW (voice-over): The city`s mayor sees it differently. He`s been a strong advocate for cracking down on illegal guns and defends the technology. MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK: You can argue that`s an invasion of privacy, but in the world we live in, that`s something that we just have to live with. The alternative is intolerable. SNOW: Challenges over privacy issues are nothing new to the NYPD. Concerns were raised over surveillance cameras and bag searches on subways. The department says then as now, it`s working with its lawyers to address those concerns as it develops this technology -- Mary Snow, CNN, New York. (END VIDEO CLIP)