Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI uses controversial drone technology in the U.S. but has refused to identify how often agents deploy the unmanned planes. Motherboard.com reports that the obscurity of the drone missions has irked privacy advocates. But now, some of the missions have come to light thanks to documents obtained by MuckRock. The FBI…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FAA is in a tough position after a Homeland Security drone crashed over the U.S.-Mexico border earlier this week, Motherboard reports. DHS grounded its fleet of 10 unmanned surveillance aircraft out of “an abundance of caution,” DHS spokesman Michael Friel said. “The cause of the failure is unknown,” according to Friel….
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com CBP is grounding its remaining fleet of nine drones after one of them crashed off the Southern California coast because of mechanical problems, Reuters reports. Monday’s crash was the second involving the agency’s drones since it began using them in 2006. “While on patrol off the Southern California coast, the unmanned aircraft,…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are increasingly using drones to spy domestically, the Washington Post reports, citing newly released documents. The agencies are borrowing drones from Border Patrol in what could become more commonplace in the future, the Post wrote. CBP has the largest domestic drone fleet and flew…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com If controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona gets his way, unmanned drones will be patrolling Maricopa County in search of drug dealers and other scofflaws, News 92 FM reports. Arpaio, who is a lightening rod on immigration issues, said the idea is to help Border Patrol locate undocumented immigrants and drug dealers….
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI has been using drones domestically since 2006, longer than previously known, the Los Angeles Times reports. The findings come from the inspector general’s audit of drones, which found that the FBI flew unmanned planes weighing less than 55 pounds to track suspects and examine crime scenes. The FBI declined to…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI has flown drones in U.S. airspace 10 times since 2006, the FBI told Sen. Rand Paul, The New York Times reports. The bureau admitted it uses drones for aerial surveillance in “very limited circumstances.” Drones were used eight times for criminal cases and twice for national security, according to…
Glenn Garvin The Columbus Dispatch Last month, when the Senate passed an amendment to its immigration-reform bill that included $46 billion to beef up border security, Sen. John McCain declared: “We’ll be the most militarized border since the fall of the Berlin Wall!” He didn’t know the half of it. Since then, documents released…
