Baltimore wants to take aim at violent crime with a new imaging device that can look through clothing and see whether someone is carrying a gun.
A portable version of the device -- a camera with a computer that converts heat emissions into images -- could be available for field testing within a year, according to the Massachusetts company developing it.
Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke said yesterday that he has asked the company to use Baltimore as a test site, saying the device "could potentially save a lot of lives in the city."
With the device, police cruising high-crime areas could detect from afar whether anyone in a group on a street corner had a hidden gun and make an arrest on concealed weapons charges, the mayor said.
A company official said Baltimore's request was "of great interest." Baltimore is one of two cities to seek the device.
Mr. Schmoke said at his weekly news conference that he was disclosing his interest in the device early to head off misunderstandings concerning possible violations of individual rights.
"I don't want people just to say the mayor is bringing Big Brother one closer step to the city and that we are trying to investigate everybody in our city as a possible suspect for criminal activity. That's not it at all," Mr. Schmoke said. "We will be reasonable. We'll be prudent. We won't abuse people's rights. But [this technology is] going to make us a safer city."
Legal experts and civil libertarians said yesterday that though they believe the device could raise constitutional questions, its mere use would not violate Fourth Amendment prohibitions against unreasonable government searches.
Michael A. Millemann, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Law long active in civil rights issues, said the public interest in knowing who is carrying a gun outweighs an individual's expectation of privacy on a public street.
"There is some tension between the Fourth Amendment and what the mayor is taking about, but on balance it gets resolved in favor of the device," said Mr. Millemann, director of the school's legal clinic.
Key questions
Stuart Comstock-Gay, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, said the key questions are who would be targeted for surveillance and for what reasons.
"The tool could be used in an appropriate way. It also could be used in a very inappropriate way," he said. "The devil is in the details."
The device is being developed by South Deerfield, Mass.-based Millitech Corp., a 13-year-old technology company headed by G. Richard Huguenin, a former physics professor at Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts.
The device uses a technology called passive wave imaging, Mr. Huguenin said yesterday.
Unlike more familiar detection devices, such as radar guns and metal detectors, the device emits no energy signals of its own, he said.
Rather, it produces an image based on the heat emitted by a person's body and any objects the person is carrying, he said. "It is basically a video camera that produces a standard video image on a video monitor," Mr. Huguenin said.
Lens transforms images
About 10 inches long and cylindrical in shape, the device has a lens that transforms wave images into electrical signals. The signals then are processed by a computer, called a digital signal processor, into a video image. The camera's operator can see the image on the back of the camera, as with a camcorder, or view it on a remote monitor.
Central to the technology is the fact that the human body naturally emits energy that can be detected through clothing. Other objects, such as guns, emit considerably less energy. A gun under a bulky sweater would appear on the video monitor as a dark shadow against the bright outline of a body.
Mr. Huguenin said the shape of almost any item kept in pockets or under clothes -- including keys and tape recorders -- would similarly appear as shadows on the monitor.
"It requires interpretation by the operator" to determine if the object is a gun, he said.
The device could be used at distances of up to 50 feet, he said, and will detect nonmetallic objects as well as metal ones.
A prototype of a hand-held device should be available in six months, Mr. Huguenin said, with models ready for field testing within a year.
Cost would be $10,000
The device would cost about $10,000, he said.
A model that could be mounted on top of a police car also is being designed, he said. A stationary model -- which could be used in airports and government buildings -- is in the final stage of development.
Mr. Schmoke said at his news conference yesterday that he learned of the device by participating in a federal task force examing how technology could be adapted by police departments. "One of the biggest problems that law enforcement faces is people carrying concealed weapons," a crime punishable by up to three years in jail and a $1,000 fine, Mr. Schmoke said.
The mayor said he hoped the device would encourage people to leave guns at home rather than face detection and arrest.
"I'm hoping that this serves a deterrent value rather than just helping us fill up the jails," he said. Baltimore would place the technology in unmarked cars first and patrol cars later, depending on the availability of money, the mayor said.
Police Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier said the device also would improve officer safety by letting officers know if someone they were stopping had a hidden gun. "It's a major concern, every time you stop a car or stop a person," he said. "It's an immense help to know that we have some ability to locate concealed weapons."
