FBI has used surveillance drones on US soil 10 times

Thought you would all be interested in hearing the specific details about drone use in the US. So far it seems pretty innocuous. And I think this is the way it should stay.

This information was provided grata of Rand Paul's persistence in getting to the truth. Below the details you will find the letter sent from the FBI to Rand Paul.

AlJazeera America beta
FBI has used surveillance drones on US soil 10 times

In the declassified letter, the FBI said that it used a drone in February in a high-profile case where a five-year-old boy was held hostage in a bunker in Alabama. The letter states that the FBI has only employed unarmed drones in accordance with Fourth Amendment laws.

The FBI broadly described its use of drones for use in search and rescue operations, drug sanctions and fugitive investigations, but declined to elaborate on additional uses, citing national security concerns. The bureau described such cases as "law enforcement sensitive."

According to the letter, the FBI must be authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration and have bureau legal counsel sign off on missions before drones can be used domestically. The FBI was authorized to use drones an additional three times but decided not to, according to a footnote in the lette

FBI Letter to Rand Paul

reply to post by elouina


I find that odd. Considering I know of 2 eyewitnesses who have seen them.
Maybe there are other agencies using them on top of the forementioned?
Gee whiz, does Google rent them for "mapping" as well?

Really doesn't bother me much, as everybody has a microscope up my
uranus anyway. Bunch of creeps really.......peering into the darkness.

S&F

I see them all the time. I live near two bases that train the operators of the drones and an actual operating base at Hancock International.

There are dozens of them in the sky at any one given time over the USA.

They (US Coastguard) have been using them over the great lakes for the past 5 years. It is a very advanced maritime version of the predator drone. It can locate and track over 1000 targets simultaneously(including objects in the water up to 30m in depth).

Well, this isn't that bad if they are being used in accordance to fourth amendment rights - which means that a warrant has to be issued with probable cause for a specific person and place;

ya. Only 10 times in all of human history. ya

This information seems to be ONLY about the FBI's drone usage.
What about specific police departments, like Arlington Texas that has their own drone (gotta keep them Cowboys safe for the StuporBowl crowd) - are there any statistics on those missions?

ganjoa

reply to post by ganjoa


Exactly, this is just stats for the FBI. What about other government agencies such as the DHS?

But our military uses them on a regular basis in training exercises that just happen to help other agencies in the government. Those other agencies are not trained to run them themselves. So they are stuck relying on military training exercises the coincide with there operations. I am sure that will change in the future. Remember Texas spending millions of dollars to buy a drone. They crashed it in a simple ceremony showing off there new toy.

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