But if the Supreme Court finds that this is not a search, there's no reason why the police can't drive down the street and scan every house. As technology improves, police often lag behind criminals in using the latest gadgets. The law, by nature largely reactive, strains to keep current the Constitution's Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable government seizures of personal property and searches of people's homes, the most private realm of American life. It's going to get more and more complex as technology develops. You might feel it's OK to give up some privacy for that.
Police say imagers make their job safer and more efficient.
Police can then use the images to get a warrant from a judge to search inside. Some police agencies announce when they're trying new surveillance technology in an effort to gauge the public's view of their reasonableness and to allay concerns about secret spying on ordinary, law-abiding citizens. But that disclosure also may teach attentive criminals what to look out for. For that reason, some police keep their gadgets secret. N.C. police said.