[1] The NYPD has not disclosed how this technology is used as it would reveal investigation techniques, however Police Commissioner William Bratton states that they are not used to scan people for weapons.
In airports, The European Union and United States Transportation Security Administration banned the use of this type of radiation technology citing privacy and health concerns such as cancer.
In it, the NYCLU cited the example of X-ray vans as a violation of privacy, and stated in general that, "Left unchecked, police surveillance has the potential to chill the exercise of First Amendment-protected speech and religious worship, intrude on Fourth Amendment-protected privacy rights, and cast entire communities under a cloak of suspicion in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection.
"[6] In 2015 ProPublica issued an Article 78 proceeding in order to have the NYPD respond to FOIL requests[7][1] to give further information about the usage and health risks of the x-ray technology.
[8] The New York Civil Liberties Union have filed an amici curiae brief in support of a legal action by the journalist Michael Grabell, who is attempting to obtain more information about these vehicles.