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Utah city may use blimp as anti-crime spy in the sky
Reuters ^ | 1/16/11 | James Nelson

Posted on 01/17/2011 1:14:14 PM PST by NormsRevenge

(Reuters) - A proposed unmanned floating airship surveillance system is being hailed by city officials in Ogden, Utah as one way to fight crime in its neighborhoods.

"We believe it will be a deterrent to crime when it is out and about and will help us solve crimes more quickly when they do occur," Ogden City Mayor Matthew Godfrey told Reuters.

The airship entails military technology now available to local law enforcement, he said.

Godfrey floated the idea of a dirigible in the skies above Ogden for his city council members last week. The council is expected to vote on the measure in coming weeks.

He says the cost of the blimp is being negotiated but said it is more "cost effective" to operate than helicopters or fixed winged aircraft.

"We anticipate using it mainly at night. The cameras have incredible night vision to see with tremendous clarity daytime and nighttime. It will be used like a patrol car. It will be used to go and check things out and keep things safe," said Godfrey.

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; US: Utah; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: anticrime; blimp; dhs; ogden; terror; terrorism; terrorist; utah
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1 posted on 01/17/2011 1:14:15 PM PST by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge

They could make money by having advertising on the sides...................


2 posted on 01/17/2011 1:15:10 PM PST by Red Badger (Whenever these vermin call you an 'idiot', you can be sure that you are doing something right.)
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To: glock rocks
Blimp! No, Bimp!


3 posted on 01/17/2011 1:15:15 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed .. Monthly Donor Onboard .. Obama: Epic Fail or Bust!!!)
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To: NormsRevenge

In Ogden?? In Ogden UT they need nightime surveillance??

Its one of the most wholesome places I’ve ever lived!

This blimp is a solution in need of a problem.


4 posted on 01/17/2011 1:16:45 PM PST by rahbert
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To: NormsRevenge

Any word on what types of ordnance they are going to hang on it?


5 posted on 01/17/2011 1:17:58 PM PST by magslinger (Samuel Colt, feminist. Making women equal to men for over 150 years.)
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To: NormsRevenge
Godfrey floated the idea of a dirigible in the skies above Ogden for his city council members last week.

Bad pun alert! Thanks, Reuters!
6 posted on 01/17/2011 1:18:26 PM PST by Zarro (Hands off Our Junk!)
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To: magslinger
Any word on what types of ordnance they are going to hang on it?

None.

At first.

7 posted on 01/17/2011 1:21:28 PM PST by null and void (We are now in day 727 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: NormsRevenge; Red Badger; rahbert; magslinger; Zarro

8 posted on 01/17/2011 1:21:50 PM PST by sam_paine (X .................................)
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To: rahbert
"...In Ogden?? In Ogden UT they need nightime surveillance??..."


We shared the identical sentiment upon reading the headline.
I find it difficult to believe a mountainous city with a modest population needs (or desires) constant airborne surveillance.
How tragic that bizarre and overreaching notion would even be raised.

9 posted on 01/17/2011 1:26:28 PM PST by Blue Jays (Rock Hard, Ride Free)
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To: NormsRevenge
For those uninitiated, this is a reference to Fox's TV show Fringe.

10 posted on 01/17/2011 1:31:56 PM PST by tang-soo (Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks - Read Daniel Chapter 9)
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To: NormsRevenge

dont you think they’ve been using this for years, along the border, for drug trafficking, etc. Maybe they’re counting Mormon wives out there, that would be about Napolitano’s speed


11 posted on 01/17/2011 1:36:01 PM PST by 1000 silverlings (everything that deceives, also enchants: Plato)
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To: null and void; magslinger
I'll stake good money they would wish to weaponize that blimp within a few years to further "protect" the residents of mountainous Ogden, Utah from the enormous volume of threats they face daily.
12 posted on 01/17/2011 1:38:41 PM PST by Blue Jays (Rock Hard, Ride Free)
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To: NormsRevenge

13 posted on 01/17/2011 1:40:19 PM PST by Bratch
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To: NormsRevenge

Will it detect polygamy?


14 posted on 01/17/2011 1:40:32 PM PST by humblegunner (Blogger Overlord)
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To: Blue Jays

My point exactly.


15 posted on 01/17/2011 1:40:57 PM PST by null and void (We are now in day 727 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: humblegunner

It’s an eye in the sky, not eye in the bed.


16 posted on 01/17/2011 1:43:06 PM PST by Rebelbase
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To: Red Badger

Don’t tell me. “Blimpie’s”. LOL!


17 posted on 01/17/2011 1:48:04 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer ("New laws are always a "good idea" until the first time you have to enforce them." - Unknown)
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To: sam_paine

The Hellion/Electric Eye - Judas Priest

Up here in space
I’m looking down on you
My lasers trace
Everything you do

You think you’ve private lives
Think nothing of the kind
There is no true escape
I’m watching all the time

I’m made of metal
My circuits gleam
I am perpetual
I keep the country clean

I’m elected electric spy
I’m protected electric eye

Always in focus
You can’t feel my stare
I zoom into you
You don’t know I’m there

I take a pride in probing all your secret moves
My tearless retina takes pictures that can prove

I’m made of metal
My circuits gleam
I am perpetual
I keep the country clean

I’m elected electric spy
I’m protected electric eye

Electric eye, in the sky
Feel my stare, always there
There’s nothing you can do about it
Develop and expose
I feed upon your every thought
And so my power grows

I’m made of metal
My circuits gleam
I am perpetual
I keep the country clean

I’m elected electric spy
I’m protected electric eye

Protected. Detective. Electric eye


18 posted on 01/17/2011 1:49:20 PM PST by dfwgator
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To: NormsRevenge

It better be bullet-proof or Homie will take it out.


19 posted on 01/17/2011 1:51:44 PM PST by burroak
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To: NormsRevenge

Good idea for Sacramento. It would eliminate the noise from all the police helocopters.


20 posted on 01/17/2011 1:53:43 PM PST by SeeSac
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