FBI planes gathered days of video, electronic surveillance over Baltimore by Sean Gallaghe

[Demeter]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/10/fbi-planes-gathered-days-of-video-electronic-surveillance-over-baltimore/

ACLU obtained FBI records of high-definition video and "other electronic surveillance."



The FBI flew a Cessna 182T, similar to this plane, and another aircraft over Baltimore for over 36 hours following the riots in the city, gathering video and other electronic intelligence, according to records obtained by the ACLU through a FOIA request.

The American Civil Liberties Union has obtained documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigations that detail the surveillance flights made by FBI-operated aircraft over Baltimore last May. The flights included both high-resolution optical and infrared surveillance and at least two electronic surveillance flights, though the exact nature of the sensors used on the electronic surveillance flights was redacted from the documents.

The collection of records, which includes flight logs, evidence logs, and an FBI memorandum justifying the flights, was obtained by the ACLU through a Freedom of Information Act filing on May 6. The aircraft, which were registered to FBI front companies that are used to conceal the identity of the aircraft flown by the FBI's Special Flight Operations branch, flew day and night missions over the areas where protests were taking place in Baltimore—areas where riots broke out the previous week after the death of Freddy Grey in police custody.

The records show that the FBI not only provided live video intelligence to the Baltimore police, but also collected and saved high-resolution video footage of hundreds of people participating in protests on the streets of Baltimore—footage that may be used in the future to build profiles on those people. The records offer a look inside the FBI's secret surveillance operations that span the country, carrying not just cameras but electronic sensors such as "dirt boxes" that can track cell phones on the ground and potentially intercept calls.

In the electronic memorandum filed by the FBI, accompanying evidence records from the surveillance, FBI officials described their reasoning for the aerial surveillance:

Social Media streaming and intelligence has indicated that large scale demonstrations and protests are being scheduled for Baltimore and the surrounding areas. The potential for large scale violence and riots throughout the week presents a significant challenge for the Baltimore Police Department for airborne surveillance and observation. Baltimore will request the assistance of the FBI's Critical Incident Response Group and Washington Field Office in the matter of airborne surveillance to assist the Baltimore Police Department. Baltimore has continued to evaluate threat streams, intelligence, canvass sources and follow all actionable leads.

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[Mopar151]

1. It's telling me

That our top LEO's see the protests as the major issue here - as do, sadly, many Americans. I have always had issues with those who mistake problems for symptoms, and vise versa.

We need to take a step up, here - as a nation. Our functionaries need to understand that we NEED truth and fairness from our Government in order to be citizens of a democracy. To be blunt about it, too much bullshit jams up the mechanisims, and the wreckage can get ugly.....

In our changing world, things keep moving faster - and, like a processing line, the faster it runs, the less tolerant it is of jam-ups and mis-fills. Trouble is, some fool decided Freddie Gray needed jammin' up, and knew where to do it so the sensor net would'nt pick it up. But Freddy got jammed too hard, and it set off a new kind of alarm.... Naturally, the old guy from Maintainence theinks the new alarm is the problem, while the kid from Engineering thinks we need to fix the root cause of the problem, likely by some sort of sensor or camera to avoid any more jams like this....

[Fumesucker]

2. Oh my, this is going to cause some serious cognitive dissonance among the pragmatic centrists

[Demeter]

3. I wish

I've learned to lower my expectations, when it comes to those above me.