Unmarked police vans equipped with X-ray equipment looking for bombs could be health hazards and the public has a right to know more about them, the New York Civil Liberties Union contends in court papers.
The NYCLU asked a state appeals court on Tuesday for permission to file a brief in a case where ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative news organization, is battling the NYPD over access to information about the vans.
The Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press and 21 media organizations, including the Daily News, also filed a brief supporting the disclosure of the X-ray van records.
COPS MUST REPORT ANY USE OF FORCE UNDER NEW NYPD RULES
Earlier this year, a Manhattan judge ordered police brass to provide the information, a decision the department is appealing.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton told reporters Tuesday the info should stay secret.
“They’re not used to scan people for weapons. The devices we have, the vehicles, if you will, are used lawfully, and if the ACLU and others don’t think that’s the case, we’ll see them in court, where they’ll lose,” he said, adding “it falls under the range of security and counterterrorism activity that we engage in.”
