Metro Tests New Portable Weapons Screening System

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – A new portable system that screens for explosives and weapons will be tested at a downtown Los Angeles Metro station this week.

The noninvasive system, known as ThruVis, scans passengers in real time without displaying their anatomical details and works by looking for items that can block their body heat. Those items then show up as green on a screen which is monitored by personnel. The system itself can be moved around the station.

It will be tested at the 7th Street/Metro Center Station on Tuesday and Wednesday. Passenger participation will be voluntary.

This is the latest of three pilot systems to be tested by Metro in association with the Transportation Security Administration.

In August, Metro tested a security system in Union Station which detects "mass casualty threats." That system, developed by Evolv Technology, can scan 600 passengers per hour.

In December, a pair of bomb and explosives detection devices were also tested at the 7th Street station. The devices, resembling large, white-lens cameras mounted on tripods, were pointed at the escalators in order to capture images of passengers, with the goal of detecting any materials that could indicate an explosive.

The passive system triggers an alarm if anyone wearing an improvised explosive device passes by.

"The key goal of implementing passenger screening on transit, is the ability to scan lots of people without interrupting their ability to catch their train," Metro spokesman Dave Sotero told CBS2.

Metro hopes to have one of these systems in place by the end of the year.