A laser scanner, in particular a safety laser scanner, in accordance with the operating principle of the time of flight process, comprising a light transmission unit having at least one light transmitter for transmitting a polarized transmitted light beam into a monitored zone; a light reception unit having at least one light receiver for detecting the polarization component of the light reflected in the monitored zone being orthogonal to the polarization direction of the transmitted light beam, and/or the polarization component of the light reflected in the monitored zone being parallel to the polarization direction of the transmitted light beam, and for generating a received signal corresponding to the detected orthogonal polarization component and/or the detected parallel polarization component; and an evaluation unit configured to evaluate the time development of the detected orthogonal polarization component and/or of the detected parallel polarization component.