General Discussion

Catherina

(35,568 posts)

16. US drones have already been helping local police agencies before this

Fri Jan 6, 2012, 01:10 AM

Jan 2012

There's a better story out there but I can't find it.

11 Dec 2011 12:55am, EST

Police employ Predator drone spy planes on home front
Unmanned aircraft from an Air Force base in North Dakota help local police with surveillance, raising questions that trouble privacy advocates.

By Brian Bennett, Washington Bureau
December 10, 2011, 6:12 p.m.

...

He also called in a Predator B drone.

As the unmanned aircraft circled 2 miles overhead the next morning, sophisticated sensors under the nose helped pinpoint the three suspects and showed they were unarmed. Police rushed in and made the first known arrests of U.S. citizens with help from a Predator, the spy drone that has helped revolutionize modern warfare.

But that was just the start. Local police say they have used two unarmed Predators based at Grand Forks Air Force Base to fly at least two dozen surveillance flights since June. The FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration have used Predators for other domestic investigations, officials said.

"We don't use drones on every call out," said Bill Macki, head of the police SWAT team in Grand Forks. "If we have something in town like an apartment complex, we don't call them."

...

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-drone-arrest-20111211,0,324348.story

Test sites? Is that what they're gonna call em?

Testing against what? They already know these can be hacked. Why do this?

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Highlight:

From the "that didn't take long" department (military drones over New York) [View all] SixthSense Jan 2012 OP

Info about the Reaper drone SixthSense Jan 2012 #1

that is so NOT cool FirstLight Jan 2012 #3

maybe they can run ads on the sides getdown Jan 2012 #5

Would it make you feel better if they were called Happy Sunshine Drones? Capitalocracy Jan 2012 #20

As if ... surfdog Jan 2012 #26

Some of us think outside the borders of the U.S. Capitalocracy Jan 2012 #38

So what does that tell you? i was a cathar Jan 2012 #54

yea FirstLight Jan 2012 #55

LOL- I liked how it started, though... i was a cathar Jan 2012 #56

Yes, it just wasn't in 1984... Ecumenist Jan 2012 #69

$11.8 billion! /nt Bragi Jan 2012 #15

Color me surprised? nadinbrzezinski Jan 2012 #2

Weren't certain Very Serious People howling mere weeks ago that this whole idea was Occulus Jan 2012 #86

Yup, mr. Jones territory to be exact nadinbrzezinski Jan 2012 #89

Schumer demanded drone surveillance of his constituents? Bragi Jan 2012 #4

maybe that's what the getdown Jan 2012 #6

you know his nickname, right? SixthSense Jan 2012 #8

I wish I could say this in response to the article Bragi Jan 2012 #10

This message was self-deleted by its author Bragi Jan 2012 #11

He was my senator and one of the worst we ever had. I met him in person once, and nothing sabrina 1 Jan 2012 #21

He's still one of my Senators, and many here think I have to A Simple Game Jan 2012 #67

That NDAA was really something, wasn't it Bragi Jan 2012 #7

Then I suppose surfdog Jan 2012 #27

Military planes (including drones) have to conduct local training and maintence check fligts hack89 Jan 2012 #33

I don't want it to happen at all, but if it has to A Simple Game Jan 2012 #68

Why do you assume there is room for them at Drum? hack89 Jan 2012 #74

They can and do land C-130s at Wheeler-Sack airfield. A Simple Game Jan 2012 #83

How many years have spy satellites been flying over your head? nt hack89 Jan 2012 #37

Science fiction flicks trying to tell us something? freshwest Jan 2012 #9

Autonomous mechs...a bad idea beyond my capacity to describe. nt Fire Walk With Me Jan 2012 #17

Re: Drones used on OWS: freshwest Jan 2012 #49

I am stunned at the depth of your comments. dixiegrrrrl Jan 2012 #78

Fascinating post, thank you! sabrina 1 Jan 2012 #79

Let me offer a third possibility nadinbrzezinski Jan 2012 #90

I still say we're not getting our money's worth Warren DeMontague Jan 2012 #61

What is the REASON they are giving for this? I can't imagine anything that would be gateley Jan 2012 #12

Maybe public acceptability is part of the "test" Bragi Jan 2012 #13

+1 Blue_Tires Jan 2012 #34

from the article SixthSense Jan 2012 #14

follow the dollar grasswire Jan 2012 #18

They train with F-15's in my area bhikkhu Jan 2012 #88

Hancock Field is an Air National Guard base where drones are based. hack89 Jan 2012 #30

You may be right, but I don't believe the drones are based in Syracuse. A Simple Game Jan 2012 #70

The 174th Air Wing NY Air National Guard operates MQ-9 drones from Hancock Field hack89 Jan 2012 #75

Thanks for the article. A Simple Game Jan 2012 #81

Okay, well THAT I could see. Sounds reasonable, but just the same, gateley Jan 2012 #85

pot smokers. Warren DeMontague Jan 2012 #60

US drones have already been helping local police agencies before this Catherina Jan 2012 #16

You know that these were not military drones, don't you? nt hack89 Jan 2012 #32

Oh well in that case. Nothing to see here citizen. Move along n/t Catherina Jan 2012 #44

The thread is about military drones. nt hack89 Jan 2012 #46

So by your reasoning, drones flying out of Grand Forks Air Force Base don't count? WTF n/t Catherina Jan 2012 #52

They belonged to the border patrol - a civilian law enforcement agency. nt hack89 Jan 2012 #57

& like I said earlier: Oh well in that case. Nothing to see here citizen. Move along n/t Catherina Jan 2012 #58

And how many decades have spy satellites been flying over your head? nt hack89 Jan 2012 #59

You're putting a lot of energy into defending this. I'm not interested. n/t Catherina Jan 2012 #65

From the article A Simple Game Jan 2012 #71

US Customs and Border Protection has two Predators at Grand Forks hack89 Jan 2012 #76

Logic would say those are the ones used by the local police. n/t A Simple Game Jan 2012 #82

This sort of thing begins to suggest the questsion, why keep the citizenry? cthulu2016 Jan 2012 #19

probably the same reason SixthSense Jan 2012 #22

I dunno-I did a seven year federal sentence for cocaine-related charges and got a passport last year NBachers Jan 2012 #23

Ah, yes. Let the violations of Posse Comitatus commence. ixion Jan 2012 #24

Wrong - this is for training and maintence check flights hack89 Jan 2012 #31

LOL.. yeah, right. whatever ixion Jan 2012 #35

If you have drones in the military they have to fly in US airspace hack89 Jan 2012 #36

If you're saying that the military is not encroaching on Posse Comitatus, and that ixion Jan 2012 #40

Give me an example. nt hack89 Jan 2012 #41

go to google and search for ixion Jan 2012 #42

I don't like wading through a bunch of conspiracy sites like Infowars and Above Top Secret. hack89 Jan 2012 #43

I figured you'd come up with some answer like that. ixion Jan 2012 #45

If a Truther like Alex Jones is the company you want to keep - well knock yourself out. nt hack89 Jan 2012 #47

Yeah, I know that True Believers have a real problem with actual Truth. ixion Jan 2012 #48

He is a rightwing nut - do you think he is also right about President Obama? hack89 Jan 2012 #50

I didn't even say I 'kept company' with him, and frankly ixion Jan 2012 #51

$11.8 BILLION for these things! There's ALWAYS money for war - but not to house the homeless, slay Jan 2012 #25

Gee, thanks Chuck! Earth_First Jan 2012 #28

Keep your nose clean citizens! quinnox Jan 2012 #29

Bumbledrones NBachers Jan 2012 #39

Post removed Post removed Jan 2012 #53

Oh NOES!!! Black Helicopters!!! onenote Jan 2012 #62

if there's no difference SixthSense Jan 2012 #63

The only difference is that drones are unmanned and thus previously were restricted onenote Jan 2012 #64

that's my understanding - this is an FAA airspace issue nt arely staircase Jan 2012 #73

How is the military suppose to train to use drones if they can't fly them in America? hack89 Jan 2012 #66

there are these things called military bases SixthSense Jan 2012 #72

And the OP is talking about a military base - Hancock Field, the home of the 174th Fighter Wing hack89 Jan 2012 #77

we'll see SixthSense Jan 2012 #80

Bring it on. Smoke 'em out. We gotta fight 'em over here so we don't have to...something like that. Tierra_y_Libertad Jan 2012 #84

Of note...if this happened under a republican POTUS nadinbrzezinski Jan 2012 #87

+10000 stockholmer Jan 2012 #92

yea; i bet that arrogant dumass Schumer faithfully considered the odds .... marasinghe Jan 2012 #91