The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is testing a technology utilizing radar to “see” through walls.”
According to DHS, the “cutting-edge” Detection of Presence of Life (DePLife) technology will provide law enforcement with “valuable intelligence and situational awareness in often precarious situations.”
While using the technology, officers can determine if a structure is occupied from a distance. The tool can “scan through interior sheetrock and outer walls of typical single-family homes,” DHS explained.
The program’s goal is to be able to “quickly scan a house from the outside to see if any people are inside,” the department noted, which could be beneficial both for “firefighters looking for people trapped in a burning building and for officers looking for hostages or perpetrators during an active shooter event.”
“Before the Through Walls Mobile Sensing project started, technologies that could detect the presence of life through walls had to be stationary, or perhaps leaning on a wall to the room of interest,” said Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) Program Manager Anthony Caracciolo. “But now, we are developing a tool that can withstand minor movements—hovering drone vibrations, light wind…even a responder’s breathing—while holding the device.”
“With minor motion compensation—the next generation for these technologies—police officers, or even firefighters, can assess from a distance where the good and bad guys are at the scene,” Caracciolo added. “They won’t have to endanger themselves by having to place the detector in direct contact with a wall.”
Several city and county-level agencies have already tested and purchased the DePLife tool.
