50 US law enforcement agencies use radar to see inside homes

The US has secretly equipped at least 50 law enforcement agencies with radars that enable their officers to see through the walls of the houses. The agencies, including the FBI and US Marshals Service, began using the handheld Range-R devices more than two years ago without public disclosure, USA Today reported. Using the device enables the officers to determine the number of the people in a house and their locations. The device uses radio waves to detect motion as slight as human breathing from more than 50 feet away. The use of the surveillance device has raised questions about Fourth Amendment protections against unwarranted police searches. "Technologies that allow the police to look inside of a home are among the intrusive tools that police have," said Christopher Soghoian of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Earlier in 2001, the Supreme Court said that police normally need a search warrant before they may draw upon thermal cameras and advanced radar sensors. "The idea that the government can send signals through the wall of your house to figure out what's inside is problematic," Soghoian said. "Technologies that allow the police to look inside of a home are among the intrusive tools that police have," he added. A Marshals Service spokesman, however, claimed that the device has been used to arrest dangerous criminals "based on pre-established probable cause in arrest warrants." Since 2012, the agency has spent at least $180,000 on the devices, according to federal records.