Bomb Detection Devices Tested In Downtown LA Subway Station

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A pair of bomb and explosives detection devices were tested in a busy downtown Los Angeles Metro station this week.

The devices resemble large, white-lens cameras mounted on tripods. They were pointed at the escalators into the 7th/Metro Station to capture images of passengers, with the goal of detecting any materials that could indicate an explosive.

According to the TSA, which partnered with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority on implementing the trial test, the passive system triggers an alarm if anyone wearing an improvised explosive device passes by. No radiation is emitted, and no anatomical details of a person are displayed, the federal agency said in a statement.

Such devices have been tested throughout the country since 2004.

This week's test came just as a pipe bomb went off in a New York City subway station Monday. The only person seriously injured in the attack was the would-be suicide bomber.