paulitician
Platinum Member
- Oct 7, 2011
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Oh boy, this one should get the Authority-Worshipping Goose Steppers very excited. Big Brother and his new toys. Yippee!!
Sheriff's Office wants to fly drones over Orange County skies
The Orange County Sheriff's Office is experimenting with two surveillance drones that it hopes to turn loose over Metro Orlando skies this summer.
Sheriff's spokesman Jeff Williamson would not reveal specific uses for the drones, larger versions of which are known for flying over tribal regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan to drop bombs on suspected terrorists.
But Williamson did say Orange's remote-controlled planes would not be armed. The agency still needs approval from county leaders and the Federal Aviation Administration to use them. The FAA said it does not comment on drone applications.
Privacy advocates oppose drones for civilian use, saying they can too easily be used to snoop on law-abiding citizens, not just criminals or those thought to be doing something illegal.
"This is unwise and unnecessary. … Sheriffs are supposed to be sheriffs, not the U.S. Army," said Doug Head, a Democratic activist who closely follows Orange County politics.
Even so, drones are being deployed all over America, with at least 60 applications made to the FAA.
Most are being flown along the Mexican border by law-enforcement agencies looking for people crossing illegally into the United States.
In Florida, drones are being tested by Miami-Dade Police Department. The Polk County Sheriff's Office tried them a couple of years ago but decided they were too expensive.
Williamson, who declined a request by the Orlando Sentinel to photograph the department's drones, said the Orange County models have a wingspan of 3 to 4 feet. He said he did not know the manufacturer or model number.
The armed Predator drones flying over Pakistan and Afghanistan are somewhat larger than a two-seat, single-propeller Cessna and cost about $4 million apiece.
The ones in Orange County cost $22,000 to $25,000 each, Williamson said. The money to buy them came from a grant, but he said he was not sure which program.
Although Williamson would not say exactly how the drones would be used, he wrote in an email that they might be deployed when looking for explosives, barricaded suspects and to inspect "hostile/inaccessible terrain" or at train accidents.
As for civil-rights concerns,...
Read More:
Drones could soon be flying in Orange County skies - OrlandoSentinel.com
DRUDGE REPORT 2013®
Sheriff's Office wants to fly drones over Orange County skies
The Orange County Sheriff's Office is experimenting with two surveillance drones that it hopes to turn loose over Metro Orlando skies this summer.
Sheriff's spokesman Jeff Williamson would not reveal specific uses for the drones, larger versions of which are known for flying over tribal regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan to drop bombs on suspected terrorists.
But Williamson did say Orange's remote-controlled planes would not be armed. The agency still needs approval from county leaders and the Federal Aviation Administration to use them. The FAA said it does not comment on drone applications.
Privacy advocates oppose drones for civilian use, saying they can too easily be used to snoop on law-abiding citizens, not just criminals or those thought to be doing something illegal.
"This is unwise and unnecessary. … Sheriffs are supposed to be sheriffs, not the U.S. Army," said Doug Head, a Democratic activist who closely follows Orange County politics.
Even so, drones are being deployed all over America, with at least 60 applications made to the FAA.
Most are being flown along the Mexican border by law-enforcement agencies looking for people crossing illegally into the United States.
In Florida, drones are being tested by Miami-Dade Police Department. The Polk County Sheriff's Office tried them a couple of years ago but decided they were too expensive.
Williamson, who declined a request by the Orlando Sentinel to photograph the department's drones, said the Orange County models have a wingspan of 3 to 4 feet. He said he did not know the manufacturer or model number.
The armed Predator drones flying over Pakistan and Afghanistan are somewhat larger than a two-seat, single-propeller Cessna and cost about $4 million apiece.
The ones in Orange County cost $22,000 to $25,000 each, Williamson said. The money to buy them came from a grant, but he said he was not sure which program.
Although Williamson would not say exactly how the drones would be used, he wrote in an email that they might be deployed when looking for explosives, barricaded suspects and to inspect "hostile/inaccessible terrain" or at train accidents.
As for civil-rights concerns,...
Read More:
Drones could soon be flying in Orange County skies - OrlandoSentinel.com
DRUDGE REPORT 2013®
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