FAA grants police dept. permission to use drones.

Arlington. TX - The police department in Arlington can now use new tools in support of public safety over the Texas urban community – two small helicopter Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted permission for the Arlington police to fly these unmanned aircraft under certain circumstances: they must fly under 400 feet, only in the daytime, be in sight of the operator and a safety observer, and be in contact with the control tower at the nearby Dallas-Fort Worth airport – one of the busiest in the country.

Arlington is situated midway between Dallas and Fort Worth in Texas, and is already famous as the home of the Dallas Cowboys football and the Texas Rangers baseball teams, who have their stadiums side-by-side near the Six Flags over Texas theme park. Two years ago this complex played host to the Superbowl, when over 103,000 fans attended this single event. With scenarios like this, you can understand this police department wanting to be prepared for any contingency and two years ago Arlington was one of the first police departments to begin training with small helicopter UAVs.

The UAV in question is the Leptron Avenger, made in Utah by Leptron Industrial Helicopters. They are about 5 feet long and can stay aloft on battery power for about an hour. The Arlington Police originally acquired its first UAV with a grant from the Department of Homeland Security to support security for the Superbowl.

Sgt. Christopher Cook, representative of the Arlington Police department, stated that the small helos will only be used in situations that a manned helicopter would be used, and will not be used for police pursuits or for traffic enforcement. Typical uses might be to take crime scene photos from above, or to look for a missing person.

Arlington Police Department is one of more than 80 entities that have so far applied to the FAA for permission to fly drones in U.S. airspace. The Arlington UAV deployment is significant because Arlington is a major urban area with a large population, and it contains one of the nation’s busiest airports – Dallas Fort Worth International. Arlington is also home to two other small airports, and the main Bell Helicopter factory.
http://www.gizmag.com/arlington-tx-police-uav-faa/26665/
 
Drone command center coming to Horsham. PA:

The drones that have been used by the U.S. military to kill enemies and collect intelligence will be piloted remotely from Horsham.

The U.S. Air Force selected the Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 111th Fighter Wing for the new mission set to begin Oct. 1 at the Horsham Air Guard Base.

About 75 full-time and 175 part-time positions are expected to be added to the wing as it establishes a ground-control station for the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft system.

Drones will not be flown in and out of Horsham. Rather, the remotely piloted aircraft will be controlled by the military unit stationed at the base from a virtual cockpit by a two-person team consisting of a pilot and a sensor operator.

Drones have not been without controversy.

The use of drones came under increased scrutiny recently when Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky used an old-style filibuster of John Brennan’s CIA nomination to extract a reply from Attorney General Eric Holder that the president does not have the authority to use a drone to kill a U.S. citizen on American soil if the citizen is not engaged in combat.

There’s also been fear the use of drones could be used to spy on Americans.

State Rep. Angel Cruz, D-180, of Philadelphia, is planning to introduce a bill requiring law enforcement to get a court order from a judge before using “unmanned aircraft surveillance” in Pennsylvania.

“My legislation ensures that drones cannot be used in Pennsylvania without reasonable cause given for their use and proper approval given from the court system,” Cruz wrote in a memorandum seeking co-sponsors.

State Rep. John Galloway, D-140, said he is supporting the measure.

“I don’t want to see drones in Pennsylvania spying on our citizens,” he said. “Pennsylvania has got to maintain its rights from the federal government in regards to spying on people.”

The U.S. is estimated to have launched 420 drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen — the two countries where the strikes are believed to occur most frequently — since 2004. Between 2,424 and 3,967 people are believed to have been killed by U.S. drones, the majority in Pakistan, according to the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank.

The foundation estimates that roughly 21 percent of those killed are believed to be civilians.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/willow_grove/drone-command-center-coming-to-horsham/article_d8e582e4-96d2-5815-9ad7-83aeaa44f6b9.html