NYPD Has Secret Backscatter X-Ray Vans

This site has said it before – you would not believe what is deployed surveillance-wise, on a daily basis, against innocent Americans who have no criminal connections, without any court oversight or legal examination:

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton won’t let the NYCLU — or anyone else — bully him for details on the NYPD’s super-secret X-ray vans.

The top cop was asked Tuesday about the counter-terror vehicles, called Z Backscatter Vans, in light of the NYCLU’s request to file an amicus brief arguing that the NYPD should have to release records about the X-ray vans…

“Those are issues I’d prefer not to divulge to the public at this time,” Bratton said. “I will not talk about anything at all about this — it falls into the range of security and counter-terrorism activity that we engage in.”

The website ProPublica filed suit against the NYPD three years ago after an investigative journalist’s requests for police reports, training materials and health tests related to the X-rays were denied.

X-rays that can see through a fucking car, a building, and probably even a tractor trailer filled with crap. Are these X-Rays going to give any innocent people cancer, as you peek in their car and look at them naked, just because you are curious? I’m sorry, we can’t reveal that. Who are they used on? Trust us, we can’t tell you that. Do you seek judicial authority before using them? That’s classified for your own safety – you don’t want to die, do you?

I’m sure some of these guys got into it for God and country, but this whole thing has just gone way too far. Nobody would ever think the Founders would have morally sanctioned this in this country. I’ll bet 99% of the US military would be aghast at the full extent of what is deployed on a daily basis against non-criminal citizens. As an American I am offended by the idea I should want to cower, and give limitless power to anybody to protect me. I’ll take my freedom and my chances, and you can go control the rabbits who are too stupid to understand what freedom and privacy is.

The bothersome aspect of the surveillance state is two fold. First, it operates outside the law blatantly, even coining terms like “parallel construction,” ie, lying about how illegal intelligence was gathered, so the legal system won’t know it was done illegally. It then demands that it be allowed to operate with no oversight by anyone.

Second, by the nature of its work, it can easily gather blackmail material on the officials who would otherwise hold it to account. If they are surveilling little known conservative radio hosts like Tom Baurle, and authors like Pulitzer prize winner David Halberstam, why wouldn’t they surveil judges? If a judge opens discovery on their operations and capabilities, the resultant media shitstorm would cost the people involved their careers, their budgets, their toys, their extra-legal status, and possibly even their personal finances, since every illegal target who they harassed would immediately have standing to sue everyone involved personally for harassment and stalking. Who thinks they wouldn’t insure against that by surveilling everyone with any authority, judges included? Who thinks that gaining control over powerful people, they wouldn’t then use that control to get other people they control promoted in the hierarchy?

The presence of such an unaccountable, non-transparent entity, with no oversight taints the reputation of the entire system.

It will eventually go away of its own accord, but it will require one thing – resource restriction. Resource restriction will squash the limitless budgets which presently are allowing this massive surveillance state to explode without boundary. It will also change the natures of men, making them more independent, and less tolerant of intrusions on their personal autonomy. As that happens, there will be an inevitable exposure of all of this, and the media storm will put it to bed, at least until the next resource abundance.

Apocalypse cometh™, but not fast enough for me.