TX- Police to begin using an unmanned aerial drone to spy on citizens.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is weeks away from launching an unmanned aerial asset to help deputies fight crime. The ShadowHawk helicopter is six-feet long, weighs fifty pounds and fits in the back of an SUV.
“We can put it over a fire, put it over ahazmat spill, put it over a house with a suspect barricaded inside and literally give the incident commander the ability to look at the entire scene with a bird’s eye view, ” Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel said.
It’s equipped with an infrared camera that can clearly read a license plate from an elevation of twelve hundred feet. The helicopter cost upwards of $300,000 and was purchased with a grant from the federal government.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/16/drone-gives-texas-law-enforcement-birds-eye-view-on-crime/
CA- City council ok's plan to use an unmanned plane to spy on it's citizens.
Lancaster will soon begin filming its citizens from above, as a camera-equipped plane circles over the city under a controversial plan to track potential criminal activity.
The program, unanimously approved by the City Council this week, will utilize a Cessna 172 fixed-wing aircraft equipped with a recording device.
The plane will fly 10 hours a day, from altitudes of 1,000 to 3,000 feet as its pilot watches for robberies, drug deals, car accidents and other incidents. The footage will be sent in real time to the local Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department station.
The plane will cost about $1.3 million to launch, while operating costs will run about $90,000 a month.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_19319734