Posted on 06/19/2013 8:09:22 AM PDT by RummyChick
The FBI uses drones for domestic surveillance purposes, the head of the agency told Congress early Wednesday.
Robert Mueller, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, confirmed to lawmakers that the FBI owns several unmanned aerial vehicles, but has not adopted any strict policies or guidelines yet to govern the use of the controversial aircraft.
“Does the FBI use drones for surveillance on US soil?” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asked Mr. Mueller during an oversight hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Yes,” Mueller responded bluntly, adding that the FBI’s operation of drones is “very seldom.”
Asked by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) to elaborate, Mueller added, “It’s very seldom used and generally used in a particular incident where you need the capability.” Earlier in the morning, however, Mueller said that the agency was only now working to establish set rule for the drone program.
Yeah, because elections matter anymore. Right?
They don’t need to get down to 6 feet above your property. Spy satellites can read a car’s license plates from low earth orbit. A surveillance drone can do even better flying along just above the rooftops over your property, and even listen to conversations in the backyard or patio. Should it be legal? That will be determined in subsequent case law, and the courts determination of a “reasonable expectation of privacy.” Until case law catches up with technology, nothing prevents a police drone from buzzing around your property like a common housefly, peering into open windows, or hovering over your pool party.
Drones are a threat to privacy but the NSA isn’t? I guess I just don’t get that.
Too bad the official State Press won't ask these kinds of questions... I'd like to know how drones are being used in the United States and against what groups...
If every US Agency is like the IRS - and targeting people based on their political beliefs = then it's time to elect people on a single issue - cutting 'programs'...
It is where we are headed: “Well, we smoked the speeder we couldn’t catch for public safety. I mean, if we hadn’t smoked his ass using a drone missile strike he may have run into somebody. The family? Oh, you mean the collateral damage recipients? Well, that is the consequences of the speeder racing down the freeway. Sorry to the family but it wasn’t our fault.”
“It’s very seldom used and generally used in a particular incident where you need the capability.”
He could apply the same logic to using HellFire missiles. For instance, on Justin Beiber.
Oh hai NSA
Good one. I agree with you too.
Scratch “possible” and we’re on the same page.
Another Bush appointee.
Wonderful...
I see what is going on. First the ammo. Then the NSA spying. Now the drones.
Krauthammer on drones :
“I’m going to go hard left on you here, I’m going ACLU. I don’t want regulations, I don’t want restrictions, I want a ban on this. Drones are instruments of war. The Founders had a great aversion to any instruments of war, the use of the military inside even the United States. It didn’t like standing armies, it has all kinds of statutes of using the army in the country.
A drone is a high-tech version of an old army and a musket. It ought to be used in Somalia to hunt bad guys but not in America. I don’t want to see it hovering over anybody’s home. Yes, you can say we have satellites, we’ve got Google Street View and London has a camera on every street corner but that’s not an excuse to cave in on everything else and accept a society where you’re always under — being watched by the government. This is not what we want.
I would say that you ban it under all circumstances and I would predict, I’m not encouraging, but I an predicting that the first guy who uses a Second Amendment weapon to bring a drone down that’s been hovering over his house is going to be a folk hero in this country.”
There is already precident for using drones domestically in order to monitor livestock on farms, and also by the EPA to monitor water matters as premise to levy huge fines.
Currently weapons makers are looking to mount small .50 weapons (variations on the familiar Barrett .50 cal) on smallish drones (on the HUNTER scale).
Yep, agreed. He had the WhiteWashingHouse dirt and was ready to use it. May he rest in peace.
Watch for a spike in the sale of practice rifle grenades. A rifle grenade, dragging a long string or light rope is a two-dollar way to bring down one of these things within a range of maybe 900 vertical feet. Mueller had best include “standoff” in his beand new operational guidelines. That is to say keep his nose at least that far away from anybody’s business. Any rifle that can mount a 22 millimeter grenade launcher can fire a dummy line-dragging grenade.
The gift that keeps on giving....
I agree with Krauthammer on this one. Outlaw the drones.
Yes, we get these linker open wounds unfortunately.
My big concern is for how many times Justice Roberts is going to screw us over the years.
Answer the question with a question-- What good is a gun if it is not loaded? I'll bet ya that they have video, photo, sound mic's, infared, you name it, they have it. Including weapons. Orwell's 1984 is here.
Where’s that Domino’s Pizza drone when you need it?
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