They didn't mention it here but I bet the cops would love to use drones to execute suspected criminals and drug dealers in the USA, just like they execute suspected terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. If this happens you can expect an Air Force pilot in Las Vegas at Nellis Air Force Base to serve as the judge, jury and executioner.

I can just imagine reading one or two articles every week in the Arizona Republic that start out like this:

Phoenix Police used a Predator drown to launch a missile which destroyed a home in South Phoenix and executed 3 Black males who were suspected drug dealers.

Two innocent children were killed in the attack, but police say they were probably drug runners used by the criminals.

Phoenix Police Sergent David Hanson said this should be a clear warning to all drug dealers in the Phoenix area that they will be hunted down and killed by the Phoenix Police aerial attack and reconnaissance planes if they continue to break the law.

Phoenix Police Narcotics Officers love drones because they are a cheep effective way for the police to hunt down and kill dope dealers without risking the lives of officers.

Source

Police turn to drones for domestic surveillance

By Larry Copeland, USA TODAY

Police agencies around the USA soon could have a new tool in their crime-fighting arsenal: unmanned aircraft inspired by the success of such drones on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Local governments have been pressing the Federal Aviation Administration for wider use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs — a demand driven largely by returning veterans who observed the crafts' effectiveness in war, according to experts at New Mexico State University and Auburn University. Police could use the smaller planes to find lost children, hunt illegal marijuana crops and ease traffic jams in evacuations of cities before hurricanes or other natural disasters.

The FAA is expected this year to propose new rules for smaller unmanned aircraft, a process that will include input from the public, says FAA spokesman Les Dorr. The agency also is talking with the Justice Department and national law enforcement groups "about possibly trying to streamline the process of applying for certificates of authorization" to operate such planes, he says.

Drones have flown in the USA for several years but have been limited to restricted airspace and to portions of the borders with Canada and Mexico.

The FAA authorized the Physical Science Laboratory at New Mexico State University to research the issues involved. "We're extremely interested in being able to pave the way to integrate unmanned aircraft into the civil airspace," says Doug Davis, deputy director of the Technical Analysis and Applications Center at NMSU.

Davis says UAVs range in size from 15 ounces to 34,000 pounds and a wing span bigger than a Boeing 737.

One of the chief obstacles to widespread use of UAVs is their inability to "see and avoid" other aircraft as required by federal regulations, a key to flight safety. Davis says he believes operators on the ground can comply with federal rules if they can see the aircraft and the surrounding environment. Wesley Randall, principal investigator on an FAA grant awarded last year to researchers at Auburn University to study the risks associated with unmanned aircraft, predicts drones will be used by police departments in five to 10 years. Randall predicts that much larger unmanned aircraft will be used to transport cargo within 15-20 years.

No local police departments have been authorized to use unmanned aircraft, although police departments in Houston and Miami have conducted field tests of such planes, Dorr says.

The Miami-Dade Police Department has tested two 18-pound UAVs equipped with a camera for about 18 months, Sgt. Andrew Cohen says. The department has been licensed to operate the craft up to 200 feet in the air, but the drone must remain within 1,000 feet of the operator.

Cohen says the department wants to use the craft to reduce risks to manned aircraft or personnel in circumstances involving a hostage situation or a barricaded suspect. "It's an opportunity to increase safety for the officers," Cohen says.

Source

House approves more agents, drones on Mexican border

Posted 8/10/2010 1:33 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a rare moment of bipartisanship Tuesday, the House approved $600 million to pay for more unmanned surveillance drones and about 1,500 more agents along the troubled Mexican border.

Getting tougher on border security is one of the few issues that both parties agree on in this highly charged election season. But lawmakers remain deeply divided over a more comprehensive approach to the illegal immigration problem, and it's unclear if Congress will go beyond border-tightening efforts.

The House passed the bill by an unrecorded voice vote after brief debate. The Senate passed an identical bill last week by unanimous consent. But senators must act again, for technical reasons, before sending the bill to President Barack Obama for his signature.

Some House members urged the Senate to act quickly, without waiting for Congress's summer recess to end in mid-September. It was unclear Tuesday whether that would happen.

The bill would offset its costs by raising fees on foreign-based personnel companies that use U.S. visa programs to bring skilled workers to the United States. These include the popular H-1B visa program. India says higher fees would discriminate against its companies and workers.

The bill includes $176 million for 1,000 new border patrol agents to form a strike force to be deployed at critical areas, $89 million for another 500 customs and immigration personnel, and $32 million to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles or drones.

It also provides $196 million for the Justice Department to bolster its forces of U.S. marshals, and FBI, DEA and ATF agents along the border.

Congress and the White House felt a greater urgency to act on border security after Arizona passed a law directing its law enforcement officers to be more aggressive in seeking out illegal immigrants. A federal judge struck down the law's main provisions, but many voters throughout the country favor crackdowns on illegal immigration.

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., asked the Senate to move quickly. She said it's time for the federal government "to stop letting us down and start getting the job done" on tighter border security.