Congratzz to colorado! - GoFuckYourself.com

brassmonkey · 10-04-2016, 12:12 PM

the government cut off your jewels

Mesa County, Colo. A National Leader In Domestic Drone Use

A county in western Colorado has embraced domestic police drones in an era when states are increasingly limiting use of the technology.

The Mesa County Sheriff's Department is one of the few departments in the U.S. authorized to maneuver unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) virtually without geographic boundaries. That means it's allowed to deploy its state-of-the-art cameras almost everywhere within the county's 3,300 square miles.

"We can fly them pretty much anywhere we want," says program director Ben Miller.

Since January 2010, the department has logged 171 flight hours with its two drones. Though they were intended mainly for search and rescue efforts, they've been used in only two such missions, neither of which was successful. The county deploys the drones mostly for police chases and crime scene reconstruction.

The department is helping lead a national push among law enforcement agencies to peel away layers of federal red tape that limit police use of drones.

"Mesa County has done everything by the book with the FAA. But the thing is, the book is pretty thin in terms of federal requirements," says Shawn Musgrave of Muckrock, a national nonprofit watchdog group working with the Electronic Frontier Foundation to monitor the proliferation of domestic drones.

A tinkerer and an elected boss

Mesa County's efforts to put eyes in its sky started in 2008 when Miller, a logistics and technology expert with the department, took a personal interest in UAVs, which are also known as unmanned aerial systems (UASs). Miller has always been a tinkerer, having rigged a system of pulleys and strings to flip his bedroom light switch from his bunk bed as a grade-schooler.

Two manufacturers donated drones after Miller started researching how UAVs rigged with high-resolution cameras and thermal imaging technology might help the county's 50 to 60 annual search and rescue efforts. First, Canada-based Dragonfly Innovations gave a helicopter-type drone that's valued at about $20,000, and then Falcon UAV of Aurora donated a fixed wing system worth about $30,000, Miller says. In exchange for the donations, the county agreed to buy parts and materials from both companies.

The cost of operating battery powered unmanned aerial vehicles is estimated to run between 3 percent to 10 percent the cost of operating police helicopters and airplanes. There's no refueling or operator fatigue, and the training takes days rather than months or years.

Mesa County uses its drones about twice a month, not including training and evaluation missions. Since 2009, Miller estimates it has spent $10,000 to $15,000 on the program.

The price tag, he says, made the program easy to sell to his boss, Sheriff Stan Hilkey. The decision to use and fund aerial surveillance was Hilkey's alone, not the Mesa County Commission's.

"That's one of the benefits of a sheriff's office. You work for an elected official. Had this been a police department, it would have been more complicated running it up the food chain," Miller says. "The Sheriff thought about the potential risks involved and it didn't take long to realize that we had no intentions of doing stuff that gets people nervous."

Launching the program took patience. The Federal Aviation Administration requires authorities to fill out reams of paperwork to fly the same drones hobbyists can fly after reading a single page of guidelines. Despite the disparities in certification procedures, the rules for police are essentially the same as for hobbyists: No flying above 400 feet, near airports, at night or over heavily populated areas.

Search-and-rescue letdowns

Miller is a true believer in drones. He sees great potential for them in the vast rural county where he works -- a place where hikers, rock climbers, mountain bikers, ATV riders and hunters are drawn to its mesas and craggy backcountry, 75 percent of which is public land. All too often, hunters get lost tracking an antelope or elk, climbers forget to secure their ropes and guys with inflatable mattresses and six packs lose control in the currents of the Colorado River. Out-of-towners, especially panicked and injured ones, often aren't very helpful describing their locations to 911 operators.

"That's why a bird's-eye view is so important," Miller says.

The fixed-wing Falcon system is capable of flying back and forth grid patterns that augment rescue-team efforts. It also can photograph terrain that's too hazardous for rescuers to reach on foot.

Despite Miller's enthusiasm, the county's drones were unsuccessful in the two search and rescue missions in which they were deployed -- searches for a suicidal woman in February and for lost hikers last May. So far, he is frustrated to admit, "We've never found anyone yet."

"Four years ago I was all like 'This is gonna be cool. We're going to save the world.' Now I realize we're not saving the world, we're just saving tons of money. I know this conversation would be very different if we could say we've saved somebody."

Instead of searches and rescues, Miller says Mesa County generally uses its drones for crime scene reconstructions in which they shoot aerial photos that can be turned into three-dimensional models for investigators. They've been deployed in a few police chases and the department offered one of its drones to help reconstruct a murder scene in Hinsdale County.

"I bet by year's end, I'll be able to say that we've put people in jail who are guilty of murder," says Miller.

He recently offered a drone to Mesa County's public works department to help determine the volume in its landfill. This summer, he hopes to deploy drones to track wildfires.

At first, there was a novelty for Miller and the three other department staffers trained to operate the remote-controlled flying machines.

"But you realize very quickly that it's not 'Top Gun,' it's not the sexy stuff in the military. You go into environments that are hot or cold and you sit and look at a computer screen all day."

Battling drone bureaucracy

Miller says he gets calls every week from other sheriff and police departments throughout the country seeking to start their own drone programs. Most, he says, are daunted by the FAA's lengthy application process.

article...

also check out the future of drones...

sirkonstantine · 10-04-2016, 12:46 PM

Drones are fitting for Mesa county. The western slope of Colorado is HUGE and unpopulated. UAVs would seriously cut down on search and rescue time.

Now, will the use UAVs in the future to hand out speeding tickets? It'll be fucking infuriating if one's pulled over by a UAV.

brassmonkey · 10-04-2016, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirkonstantine

Drones are fitting for Mesa county. The western slope of Colorado is HUGE and unpopulated. UAVs would seriously cut down on search and rescue time.

Now, will the use UAVs in the future to hand out speeding tickets? It'll be fucking infuriating if one's pulled over by a UAV.

they are already using plate scanners. with the camera combo bam. they will just upload it to your judge

guilty! $2,000 fine!!! they are scanning for stolen cars and warrants in Tempe Az.

mineistaken · 10-04-2016, 03:01 PM

hide yo copy, hide yo paste!

crockett · 10-04-2016, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirkonstantine

Drones are fitting for Mesa county. The western slope of Colorado is HUGE and unpopulated. UAVs would seriously cut down on search and rescue time.

Now, will the use UAVs in the future to hand out speeding tickets? It'll be fucking infuriating if one's pulled over by a UAV.

You won't get pulled over just get a ticket in the mail..

crockett · 10-04-2016, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brassmonkey

they are already using plate scanners. with the camera combo bam. they will just upload it to your judge

guilty! $2,000 fine!!! they are scanning for stolen cars and warrants in Tempe Az.

Plate scanners should already be considered a violation of privacy.. I've watched cops drive around in parking lots on private property of big box stores scanning plates of all the parked cars.

That is a violation of your privacy as cops don't have the right to track your movements or where you shop.. but people keep giving them the ability to do it just like in this case...

The drones were sold marketed as a way to carry out search and rescue yet only get used twice and instead their focus becomes "crime solving"....

10-04-2016, 12:12 PM	#1
brassmonkey Pay It Forward Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Yo Mama House Posts: 76,498	Congratzz to colorado! the government cut off your jewels Mesa County, Colo. A National Leader In Domestic Drone Use A county in western Colorado has embraced domestic police drones in an era when states are increasingly limiting use of the technology. The Mesa County Sheriff's Department is one of the few departments in the U.S. authorized to maneuver unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) virtually without geographic boundaries. That means it's allowed to deploy its state-of-the-art cameras almost everywhere within the county's 3,300 square miles. "We can fly them pretty much anywhere we want," says program director Ben Miller. Since January 2010, the department has logged 171 flight hours with its two drones. Though they were intended mainly for search and rescue efforts, they've been used in only two such missions, neither of which was successful. The county deploys the drones mostly for police chases and crime scene reconstruction. The department is helping lead a national push among law enforcement agencies to peel away layers of federal red tape that limit police use of drones. "Mesa County has done everything by the book with the FAA. But the thing is, the book is pretty thin in terms of federal requirements," says Shawn Musgrave of Muckrock, a national nonprofit watchdog group working with the Electronic Frontier Foundation to monitor the proliferation of domestic drones. A tinkerer and an elected boss Mesa County's efforts to put eyes in its sky started in 2008 when Miller, a logistics and technology expert with the department, took a personal interest in UAVs, which are also known as unmanned aerial systems (UASs). Miller has always been a tinkerer, having rigged a system of pulleys and strings to flip his bedroom light switch from his bunk bed as a grade-schooler. Two manufacturers donated drones after Miller started researching how UAVs rigged with high-resolution cameras and thermal imaging technology might help the county's 50 to 60 annual search and rescue efforts. First, Canada-based Dragonfly Innovations gave a helicopter-type drone that's valued at about $20,000, and then Falcon UAV of Aurora donated a fixed wing system worth about $30,000, Miller says. In exchange for the donations, the county agreed to buy parts and materials from both companies. The cost of operating battery powered unmanned aerial vehicles is estimated to run between 3 percent to 10 percent the cost of operating police helicopters and airplanes. There's no refueling or operator fatigue, and the training takes days rather than months or years. Mesa County uses its drones about twice a month, not including training and evaluation missions. Since 2009, Miller estimates it has spent $10,000 to $15,000 on the program. The price tag, he says, made the program easy to sell to his boss, Sheriff Stan Hilkey. The decision to use and fund aerial surveillance was Hilkey's alone, not the Mesa County Commission's. "That's one of the benefits of a sheriff's office. You work for an elected official. Had this been a police department, it would have been more complicated running it up the food chain," Miller says. "The Sheriff thought about the potential risks involved and it didn't take long to realize that we had no intentions of doing stuff that gets people nervous." Launching the program took patience. The Federal Aviation Administration requires authorities to fill out reams of paperwork to fly the same drones hobbyists can fly after reading a single page of guidelines. Despite the disparities in certification procedures, the rules for police are essentially the same as for hobbyists: No flying above 400 feet, near airports, at night or over heavily populated areas. Search-and-rescue letdowns Miller is a true believer in drones. He sees great potential for them in the vast rural county where he works -- a place where hikers, rock climbers, mountain bikers, ATV riders and hunters are drawn to its mesas and craggy backcountry, 75 percent of which is public land. All too often, hunters get lost tracking an antelope or elk, climbers forget to secure their ropes and guys with inflatable mattresses and six packs lose control in the currents of the Colorado River. Out-of-towners, especially panicked and injured ones, often aren't very helpful describing their locations to 911 operators. "That's why a bird's-eye view is so important," Miller says. The fixed-wing Falcon system is capable of flying back and forth grid patterns that augment rescue-team efforts. It also can photograph terrain that's too hazardous for rescuers to reach on foot. Despite Miller's enthusiasm, the county's drones were unsuccessful in the two search and rescue missions in which they were deployed -- searches for a suicidal woman in February and for lost hikers last May. So far, he is frustrated to admit, "We've never found anyone yet." "Four years ago I was all like 'This is gonna be cool. We're going to save the world.' Now I realize we're not saving the world, we're just saving tons of money. I know this conversation would be very different if we could say we've saved somebody." Instead of searches and rescues, Miller says Mesa County generally uses its drones for crime scene reconstructions in which they shoot aerial photos that can be turned into three-dimensional models for investigators. They've been deployed in a few police chases and the department offered one of its drones to help reconstruct a murder scene in Hinsdale County. "I bet by year's end, I'll be able to say that we've put people in jail who are guilty of murder," says Miller. He recently offered a drone to Mesa County's public works department to help determine the volume in its landfill. This summer, he hopes to deploy drones to track wildfires. At first, there was a novelty for Miller and the three other department staffers trained to operate the remote-controlled flying machines. "But you realize very quickly that it's not 'Top Gun,' it's not the sexy stuff in the military. You go into environments that are hot or cold and you sit and look at a computer screen all day." Battling drone bureaucracy Miller says he gets calls every week from other sheriff and police departments throughout the country seeking to start their own drone programs. Most, he says, are daunted by the FAA's lengthy application process. article... also check out the future of drones... __________________ TRUMP 2024 KEKAW!!! - Support The Laken Riley Act!!! END DACA - SUPPORT AZ HCR 2060 52R - email: brassballz-at-techie.com

10-04-2016, 12:46 PM	#2
sirkonstantine Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 281	Drones are fitting for Mesa county. The western slope of Colorado is HUGE and unpopulated. UAVs would seriously cut down on search and rescue time. Now, will the use UAVs in the future to hand out speeding tickets? It'll be fucking infuriating if one's pulled over by a UAV.

10-04-2016, 03:01 PM	#4
mineistaken See signature :) Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: ICQ 363 097 773 Posts: 29,656	hide yo copy, hide yo paste!