New York City

Bomb-Detection Devices Coming to New York City's Penn Station

What to Know

  • Suicide vest-detection technology is coming to New York City's Penn Station, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer announced Monday
  • The federal Transportation Security Administration will start testing the screening equipment on Tuesday
  • The machines, mounted on tripods, screen people at a distance without slowing them down

Suicide vest-detection technology is coming to New York City's Penn Station.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer said Monday that the federal Transportation Security Administration will start testing the screening equipment on Tuesday.

Schumer pushed for the technology to be tested in New York City after a Bangladeshi immigrant injured himself setting off a crude pipe bomb strapped to his chest in December.

The TSA has been working on the devices known as stand-off explosive detection units since 2004 with transit agencies like Amtrak and New Jersey Transit.

The technology has also been used to secure large-scale events like the Super Bowl and has been tested in a Los Angeles Metro station.

The machines, mounted on tripods, screen people at a distance without slowing them down. Several versions are being evaluated.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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