NYPD Wants to Ban Geiger Counters

[Matt Molnar]

Village Voice:

NYPD Seeks an Air Monitor Crackdown for New Yorkers
A city councilman and the cops don't want you to have that Geiger counter without their permission

by Chris Thompson
January 15th, 2008 5:13 PM

Damn you, Osama bin Laden! Here's another rotten thing you've done to us: After 9/11, untold thousands of New Yorkers bought machines that detect traces of biological, chemical, and radiological weapons. But a lot of these machines didn't work right, and when they registered false alarms, the police had to spend millions of dollars chasing bad leads and throwing the public into a state of raw panic.

OK, none of that has actually happened. But Richard Falkenrath, the NYPD's deputy commissioner for counterterrorism, knows that it's just a matter of time. That's why he and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have asked the City Council to pass a law requiring anyone who wants to own such detectors to get a permit from the police first. And it's not just devices to detect weaponized anthrax that they want the power to control, but those that detect everything from industrial pollutants to asbestos in shoddy apartments. Want to test for pollution in low-income neighborhoods with high rates of childhood asthma? Gotta ask the cops for permission. Why? So you "will not lead to excessive false alarms and unwarranted anxiety," the first draft of the law states. Read more...

[PhilDernerJr]

It's not their place to tell us what we can and can't use to protect ourselves with from chem-bio attacks. Who do they think they are?

[Tom_Turner]

Bloomberg has been a decent mayor, but its not the first time his office is out of control. This is brought to you by the same folks it seems, that wanted all of us to purchase permits to use our cameras.

If Richard Falkenrath really wants less useless leads for the NYPD to chase down, they need to stop propagandizing the public at large to if you see "something" "say something" hysteria.

[wunaladreamin]

What would you two say when the response time is oober slow for a break in at your apartment (God forbid) because of a Geiger Counter false alarm?

[Tom_Turner]

I don't know wunaladreamin -

What would you say if your apartment was robbed and the response time was slow because the cops were detaining a couple of spotters at your airport?

[Matt Molnar]

I've heard of hundreds of "suspicious packages" that turned out to be nothing, but not once have I heard a privately owned Geiger counter causing a false alarm.

[Tom_Turner]

Hey, you wouldn't want a private citizen actually have a Geiger counter really find something real would you? That would be terrible. Keep the "suspicious packages" reports coming in though... Unattended box at 1 o'clock...