Fort Worth police have the go-ahead to start using 77 radiation detectors donated by the federal government.
Police intend to use them at major city events, parades and at Texas Motor Speedway.
"You know this is the biggest sporting event in Texas -- two, three times larger than a Super Bowl, so a lot of agencies are involved," said Eddie Gossage, Texas Motor Speedway president. "But the Fort Worth PD does a great job, and this is another tool to make sure that all these folks are safe when they come to Fort Worth."
The City Council on Tuesday morning unanimously approved the use of the detectors. City Council documents say the city received "D-tect mini rad-D Personal Radiation Detectors" and a handful of "ICX identiFINDER NGH RID Kits."
The units are valued at nearly $170,00.
Police said the detectors are passive, noninvasive and do not infringe on anyone's individual rights.
"And those are things that we want to know about and want to make sure that we're guarding against, and it's another level of security for the public," Councilman Jungus Jordan said.
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Previously, Fort Worth police didn't have tools to detect radioactive materials.
"And that's what the important thing is ... what we call hardening the target to make sure that everyone is as safe as possible," Gossage said.
