L-3 Communications Receives Order for X-ray Security Screening Systems from NYPD

Sept. 29, 2004
The contract provides delivery and installation of the PX-M systems, which also includes dual energy image enhancement features for advanced material discrimination.

L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL) announced today that its Security and Detection Systems subsidiary has received a follow-on award from the New York Police Department (NYPD) Division of School Safety to provide more than 50 additional PX-M X-ray security screening systems for use in New York City Schools. The contract provides delivery and installation of the PX-M systems, which also includes dual energy image enhancement features for advanced material discrimination and optional features such as Operator Assist (OA), Image Archiving (IA), and Threat Image Projection (TIP). Each of these enhancements helps operators to locate threats and catalogue images for future use in operator performance testing.

The NYPD Division of School Safety, granted control of school safety by the New York City Board of Education in 1998, enables a safe learning environment in which students and faculty can be free from hostility and disruptions that could negatively impact the educational process. The NYPD also trains, recruits and supervises school security officers. To date, nearly 90 PX-M screening systems are deployed in about 75 New York City schools for screening of small baggage and parcels at school entry ways during peak hours of operation.

"Since 2000, L-3 has provided the NYPD Division of School Safety with X-ray security screening systems that are user friendly and easy to maintain," said Osbourne Frazier, Administrative School Security Manager, NYPD Division of School Safety. "The PX-M system allows us to effectively, but unobtrusively, screen backpacks and other packages that enter schools. L-3's systems have enhanced our ability to detect concealed objects and weapons, such as a razorblade hidden beneath a 3-ring binder, providing a safe environment for students and teachers."

L-3 designed the PX-M screening system for use in high-traffic locations with limited operational space to screen items such as backpacks, child-safety seats and other small packages. The new systems will replace L-3 and obsolete competitor systems currently installed in the schools.

"This recent follow-on order validates the versatility of the PX-M X-ray system," said Allen Barber, L-3 Communications Security and Detection Systems senior vice president and general manager. "L-3's PX-M screening system is not only mobile and robust, but provides clear, detailed images that allow the NYPD's Division of School Safety to keep threats out of schools and away from children."

With a broad range of systems and technology, and an installed base of over 18,000 units of various models, L-3 Security and Detection Systems offers X-ray screening for numerous major security applications that include: (1) aviation systems for hold baggage explosives detection, oversized baggage and checkpoint screening, (2) cargo and air freight screening, (3) port and border inspection, (4) and facility protection. Security and Detection Systems' customer base includes major airlines, airports, numerous domestic agencies that include the U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of State, and international authorities throughout Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America.