This article By JACK GILLUM, EILEEN SULLIVAN and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press was in the San Diego Union Tribune reveals the huge flight of aircraft used by many of our Federal law enforcement agencies. Apparently they use lots of "tricked out" Cessnas and fake companies to "protect the pilots & crew."
FBI behind mysterious surveillance aircraft over US cities | UTSanDiego.com
The fact of the planes being used doesn't surprise me! I can picture myself in a leadership position with one of these agencies trying to do my job in "fighting crime" I would try to use every tool possible to do the job, and would attempt to balance the cost/benefit of each technique. I'm sure that there are a lot of crime-fighting situations where use of small aircraft with photo and electronic eavesdropping equipment would be much more effective than using agents on the ground. The article quotes the FBI as saying that the planes weren't a "secret" -- but it is clear that the FBI wasn't telling everyone about it either!
One reason that the FBI is flying planes rather than using drones is that their policy currently allows "piloted planes" to do the spying, while it forbids drones from doing it. Was this a "loophole" in the rules? Or is it intentional? I find it difficult to understand the differences between a drone carrying cameras and listening devices relaying information back to an agency and a plane piloted by a human doing exactly the same thing.
The flying of planes is very expensive! Pilots are relatively expensive too! Think of the costs involved to the taxpayer for just this FBI effort. Now imagine these costs for border patrol, DEA, as well as State and Local police forces -- it will really add up! The employment of so many pilots doing this may be part of the reason for the current dire shortage of pilots that is causing many of the small regional airlines and airports to have to shut down. I'm sure pilots would much rather fly these cesna-based FBI missions than passenger flights! I'd bet that the FBI can also offer much higher pay than the small regional airlines.
However, drones are now starting to be used! Drones will be much cheaper to operate, won't require licensed pilots, and will have fewer constraints. Because they will be cheaper, I would imagine that the cessna planes and pilots will be reduced and replaced with drones. Because drones will be less expensive, I would think that the agencies will use them even more than they do today! What effect will that have on our privacy?
My other concern is that I believe that most of the efforts of our FBI, DEA, U.S. Marshalls, Border Patrol, and State & Local Police involves fighting the "drug war" -The agencies like to tout how much the "street value" is of the drugs that they confiscate -- but we NEVER hear about the total cost to the various Government agencies in order to make that arrest.
FBI behind mysterious surveillance aircraft over US cities | UTSanDiego.com
The fact of the planes being used doesn't surprise me! I can picture myself in a leadership position with one of these agencies trying to do my job in "fighting crime" I would try to use every tool possible to do the job, and would attempt to balance the cost/benefit of each technique. I'm sure that there are a lot of crime-fighting situations where use of small aircraft with photo and electronic eavesdropping equipment would be much more effective than using agents on the ground. The article quotes the FBI as saying that the planes weren't a "secret" -- but it is clear that the FBI wasn't telling everyone about it either!
One reason that the FBI is flying planes rather than using drones is that their policy currently allows "piloted planes" to do the spying, while it forbids drones from doing it. Was this a "loophole" in the rules? Or is it intentional? I find it difficult to understand the differences between a drone carrying cameras and listening devices relaying information back to an agency and a plane piloted by a human doing exactly the same thing.
The flying of planes is very expensive! Pilots are relatively expensive too! Think of the costs involved to the taxpayer for just this FBI effort. Now imagine these costs for border patrol, DEA, as well as State and Local police forces -- it will really add up! The employment of so many pilots doing this may be part of the reason for the current dire shortage of pilots that is causing many of the small regional airlines and airports to have to shut down. I'm sure pilots would much rather fly these cesna-based FBI missions than passenger flights! I'd bet that the FBI can also offer much higher pay than the small regional airlines.
However, drones are now starting to be used! Drones will be much cheaper to operate, won't require licensed pilots, and will have fewer constraints. Because they will be cheaper, I would imagine that the cessna planes and pilots will be reduced and replaced with drones. Because drones will be less expensive, I would think that the agencies will use them even more than they do today! What effect will that have on our privacy?
My other concern is that I believe that most of the efforts of our FBI, DEA, U.S. Marshalls, Border Patrol, and State & Local Police involves fighting the "drug war" -The agencies like to tout how much the "street value" is of the drugs that they confiscate -- but we NEVER hear about the total cost to the various Government agencies in order to make that arrest.
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I am interested in hearing other viewpoints or corrections to my posts