New Police Drone Near Houston Could Carry Weapons

[cleanhippie]

CONROE, Texas -- A Houston area law enforcement agency is prepared to launch an unmanned drone that could someday carry weapons, Local 2 Investigates reported Friday.

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office in Conroe paid $300,000 in federal homeland security grant money and Friday it received the ShadowHawk unmanned helicopter made by Vanguard Defense Industries of Spring. A laptop computer is used to control the 50-pound unmanned chopper, and a game-like console is used to aim and zoom a powerful camera and infrared heat-seeking device mounted on the front.
"To be in on the ground floor of this is pretty exciting for us here in Montgomery County," Sheriff Tommy Gage said. He said the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) could be used in hunting criminals who are running from police or assessing a scene where SWAT team officers are facing an active shooter. Gage said it will also be deployed for criminal investigations such as drug shipments.

"We're not going to use it to be invading somebody's privacy. It'll be used for situations we have with criminals," Gage said.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/29619788/detail.html

[LiberalFighter]

1. I wonder if those devices have a self-destruct sequence installed?

[Cirque du So-What]

2. I don't trust cops to practice discretion

when defining 'criminals.' That term could be expanded to include practically anyone under suspicion of breaking laws - even imaginary ones.

[Tippy]

3. This may not be the first step in border control but it won't be the last

NOt suprised since AZ MAD sheriff made a statement he wanted one...yesterday I believe it was...

[KeepItReal]

27. Houston ain't near nobody's border... Unless you count the Gulf of Mexico as one.

This is pure D waste.

[Lint Head]

4. Here we go folks. This shit needs to stop. Innocent people will die.

[hack89]

13. It is unarmed. nt

[Lint Head]

23. For now.

[dtexdem]

5. You mean the drones will go from concealed carry to open carry?

;-)

[Robb]

6. Considering you can get a decent helicopter for less than $1 million, I'd say they were taken.

Here a video of the thing, it's absurdly loud: http://youtu.be/oFw5hMRbM-E

[hack89]

8. More like $2 million when you add all the sensors and comm gear. nt

[Robb]

9. Eh, a couple-year old Bell equipped wouldn't be that much.

The hangar, however, you're right.

Regardless, this little thing is just silly. It's not any good for sneaking up on anyone, that's for certain.

[hack89]

12. The Eurocopter AS350 is what I used as my baseline

as it seems to be very popular with law enforcement.

I think it would be very useful for sneaking up on people as long as the engine is adequately muffled. Rotor noise should be minimal due to low speed/low transmission stress.

[leveymg]

7. The taxpayer paid $300,000 for this nasty little thing? DHS contractor racket.

[hack89]

10. That sounds right - I am sure the operator training is part of the cost.

it also includes ground station and I would bet there is a maintenance contract also.

[leveymg]

15. Or, for $169.95 they could have had this. Missiles already included. No training required.

[hack89]

21. Got it - my mistake, thought you wanted a serious discussion. nt

[leveymg]

28. $300k is still a ripoff of the taxpayer for that thing. To me, that's serious money

Miniscule, admittedly, by comparison to the DoD/DHS drone aircraft. I don't think there's any place or need for escalation of police capabilities and pilotless UVs -- particularly armed -- in domestic law enforcement.

If they want a basic "eye in the sky" capability as a cheaper alternative to police helicopters, they can get something comparable for about 1/10 of what they're paying for this thing. Hell, I could probably build something that works Line-of-Sight for 1/100 of the DHS contractor cost.

[Occulus]

11. I wonder if an IR laser pen could blind the IR camera.

I wonder if a paintball gun could cause problems for this thing.

I wonder if a slingshot is powerful enough to take it out of the sky.

I wonder how long it'll be before we find out these things.

[hack89]

14. The Army's experience in combat

indicates it is very hard to shoot down small UAVs

[yellowcanine]

17. That doesn't mean that some good old boy with a varmit rifle won't try......

And one of them likely succeed eventually. Are they any harder to hit than a ground hog at 100 yards?

[hack89]

22. How many 70 mph ground hogs have you seen lately? nt

[yellowcanine]

35. It is a small helicopter which means it will hover at times and be a sitting duck.

[hack89]

38. What are the odds that it is within range

and the shooter is a good shot? Shooting at small objects hundreds of yards away is very hard unless you routinely spend time shooting at those ranges.

[dembotoz]

36. wonder what the penalty would be??

not that i have the means, ability or ambition. hell i have a hard enough time hitting the toilet when i pee......


back in the 60s i really did not like the cops
that pretty much went away
but it is starting to creep back

[ret5hd]

25. Or jam the comms and let it crash. (easier, i'd think)

[hack89]

29. Line of sight comms are hard to jam

plus auto behaviors can be programed in the case of comms loss - for example "when comms are lost go to point A and land."

We have 10 years of hard practical experience using UAVs in combat - most of the bugs have been figured out the hard way and have been fixed.

[leveymg]

32. The technology for this is very off-the-shelf, and can be replicated for far less. $300K is porky

Very porky - you don't need custom programming and fully encrypted signals for this thing to work in a domestic law enforcement mode.

[hack89]

37. You do if you are flying over populated areas

redundancy and reliability costs money. LOS does not always mean encrypted.

[leveymg]

41. Border patrol is mostly over unpopulated areas, anyway.

In the cost/risk calculation for this sort of application, there's no excuse for a quarter-million dollar price-tag for redundant electronic systems.

Then, there's the cost of constructing microwave towers and transmitters every few miles to relay the signals.

This is sheer pork.

[hack89]

42. Montgomery County includes Houston

it is not a border patrol. With half a million people, it is not unpopulated either.

Secondly, don't you think that price tag included operator training and a maintenance plan?

Who said anything about microwave towers and transmitters? The controllers have to be relatively close - this is not a long range high endurance system.

[leveymg]

43. How do you know so much about this drone? How do you know it's not on a relay control system?

Just curious. If its metro Houston, they have plenty of police and Border Patrol air coverage as it is, and don't need this toy as well. If it's meant to replace manned helicopters, it may be a savings, except it's capabilities are so limited that a far cheaper drone could have been purchased.

No, I don't think $300K is a good buy for this little, close-range RC ultralight rotary. And, I don't think unmanned drones that can be armed for law enforcement are good policy.

[hack89]

44. So more expensive helicopters are the answer? OK nt

[leveymg]

45. I clearly said this is an option to police choppers, but far too costly for what it does.

It's not either-or. I'd like to see less choppers, replaced as much as possible by a cheaper, smaller eye-in-the-sky RV system. One that can't be weaponized, and one that doesn't cost as much as a used Bell Ranger.

[yellowcanine]

16. "To be in on the ground floor of this is pretty exciting for us here in Montgomery County," Sheriff

Tommy Gage said.


This is all about new toys for the County Mounties and little about effective law enforcement. Let me guess, Sheriff Tommy Gage also has his own tank for barricade situations.

[yellowcanine]

18. Could be a big problem for small private aircraft......

"Small aircraft pilots have expressed concerns that drones cannot practice the "see and avoid" rule that keeps aircraft from colliding in mid-air. Since the camera may be aimed somewhere else, pilots said police controllers may not be able to see and avoid other aircraft in the area during a sudden police emergency."

"Gage said he would take every concern into account as his UAV is deployed."


Alrighty then Sheriff Gage! Nothing to worry about here! Move along everyone.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

33. Several airports nearby. Hooks Field and Intergalactic are two.

Intergalactic is George H.W. Bush Intercontinental, but the natives don't call it that.

They call it Intercontinental.

I like Intergalactic better. Heard a crazy disc jockey come out with that one. :rofl:

[eShirl]

19. "It'll be used for situations we have with criminals."

[TBF]

20. I'm guessing my definition of "criminal" and the Sheriff Tommy's are very different. nt

[gratuitous]

24. Coming soon to a neighborhood near you!

How exciting.

[eShirl]

26. I have two words: Drug War. n/t

[Romulox]

30. The President can simply declare any one of us a national security threat, and kill us via RC, no?

Or does that only work overseas? :shrug:

[leveymg]

31. Not sure we really want to know the answer to that, if indeed there is a real distinction anymore.

My impression is that the taskings are worldwide in scope, but that the specific Presidential Orders so far have only been for targets located abroad. Next time, who knows? They seem to be making this up as they go along, without reference to the US Constitution or legal precedent, which is the really scary part.

[Shagbark Hickory]

34. The latest tool for catching speeders.

Sorry to disappoint those who thought they were going to use it to catch terrorists or fight in the drug and immigration war.

It'll be use for traffic control, just watch.

[PurityOfEssence]

39. Let's call it the Philadelphia Flier

Bombs away.

[Fire Walk With Me]

40. Two words I saw on the net: "Taser drone".