Posted on 03/15/2003 1:18:07 AM PST by kattracks
WASHINGTON - The FBI has put a swarm of eyes in the skies.
More than 80 aircraft - some equipped with night surveillance and eavesdropping equipment - are tracking and collecting intelligence on suspected terrorists and other criminals, a sharp increase since the 2001 attacks.
"You want to watch activity and you want to do it discreetly - you don't want to be sitting around in cars," said Weldon Kennedy, a former FBI deputy director.
"Aviation is one way to do that. You don't need to get close to that person at all," he said.
Among the FBI's planes and helicopters, several are known as Nightstalkers and equipped with infrared devices that allow agents to track people and vehicles in the dark.
Other aircraft are outfitted with electronic surveillance equipment so agents can access listening devices placed in cars or buildings and even along streets, or listen to cell phone calls. Still others fly photography missions.
All 56 FBI field offices have access to aircraft, most of which are propeller-driven civilian models - favored for their relatively slow speed and unobtrusive appearance.
Legally, no warrants are necessary for the FBI to track cars or people from the air. Law enforcement officials do need warrants to search homes, or to plant listening devices or monitor cell phone calls - even when the listener is flying in an airplane.
A senior FBI official said the FBI does not do flyovers to listen to telephone calls and gather electronic data from random citizens in hopes the data will provide leads. Rather, the planes are used to follow specific people, some of whom may have been bugged or for whom the FBI has a warrant to listen to cell phone calls.
Aircraft are now seen as ideal in the FBI's domestic war on terror.
On the rise
FBI Director Robert Mueller said last year there was a 60% increase in field office requests for aircraft in the year after the Sept. 11 attacks, with almost 90% of air missions now dedicated to surveillance.
This year, Congress approved a $20 million increase in the FBI's aviation budget but denied a request for two Black Hawk helicopters. It also ordered the bureau to develop a master plan for its aviation program.
Some critics said the surveillance technology further blurs the boundaries on domestic spying. They pointed to a 2001 case in which the Supreme Court found police had engaged in an unreasonable search by using thermal imaging equipment to detect heat lamps used to grow marijuana plants indoors.
"The cop on the beat now has Superman's X-ray eyes," said Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union. "We need to fundamentally rethink what is a reasonable expectation of privacy."
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