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High-Tech Scanner Backs Super Bowl Defense

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 12, 2008

TAMPA - An imaging system that can see through six inches of solid steel and about 42 inches of liquid will scan all vendors and deliveries for Super Bowl XLIII for explosives on game day and the week before, officials said today.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection already uses the mobile Vehicle And Cargo Inspection System at least once a week to scan containers, freight and exported vehicles at the Port of Tampa.

Two imaging systems and an X-ray van will be scanning all vehicles and deliveries to Raymond James Stadium for the Feb. 1 game, customs Officer John Lider said.

Mounted on a flatbed truck, each system has an adjustable arm that extends out and down, forming a framework to pass over each vehicle. It uses gamma radiation to photograph each vehicle and its cargo so officers can look for abnormalities, Lider said.

"It could be something very small – a different color, different shade, different density," Lider said. "It's very effective."

This device was used at Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville in 2005. Other devices are used regularly at ports in Jacksonville and Miami, Lider said. Each costs roughly $1.8 million, he said.

Customs officers demonstrated the device for reporters this morning, passing it over two minivans and a pickup with a trailer.

The system can scan a 40-foot container in six seconds, according to its manufacturer's Web site.

Should the system find anything abnormal, officers will pull the vehicle aside for further inspection and, if necessary, detonate any suspicious packages, Lider said.

To demonstrate, the Tampa Police Department's bomb squad rolled out its remote-controlled robot. The robot blew apart a gray box containing papers and a cell phone, then detonated the phone.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.

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