if i get a drone licence can i have a sam battery?

[biglakejake]

Predator drone helps convict North Dakota farmer in first case of its kind

Published January 28, 2014

FoxNews.com

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  FILE 2013: A U.S. Air Force MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle assigned to the California Air National Guard's 163rd Reconnaissance Wing flies near the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, California. (REUTERS)

What began as a wild west-style cattle-stealing case may have ushered in a brave new world of law enforcement officials using drones to gather evidence to put Americans behind bars.

In the first-ever case of a U.S. citizen being convicted and sentenced to prison based in part on evidence gathered by a drone, Lakota, N.D., farmer Rodney Brossart got a three-year sentence for his role in an armed standoff with police that began after he was accused of stealing his neighbors' stray cattle in 2011.

Brossart was arrested on June 23, 2011, but his family refused at gunpoint to let authorities armed with a search warrant onto their 3,600-acre property to investigate the neighbors' complaint. Brossart was later released on bail, and warrants issued for his three sons, but the family refused for months to respond to orders to appear in court, prompting Nelson County Sheriff Kelly Janke to have the U.S. Border Patrol deploy a Predator drone conduct live video surveillance of the farm.

The drone monitored the family's movements on the farm following the armed standoff. It was not clear how long the drone was deployed or whether it gathered evidence of the alleged cattle theft.

But the eye in the sky gathered enough evidence to prompt Janke's men to finally move in in November 2011, arresting five family members on terrorizing charges.

“We put a tactical operational plan together this afternoon and we implemented it and everything went as planned for us, so we're very pleased that we did end with a peaceful resolution this evening," Janke told WDAZ at the time.

A jury found Brossart not guilty of stealing the cows, valued at $6,000, but he did get three years - all but six months of which was suspended - for his part in the armed police standoff based in part on video supplied by the drone to court officials, according to the Grand Forks Herald.

The case could prove significant, because Brossart's attorney tried unsuccessfully to have the terrorizing charges related to his standoff with police dropped because evidence was gathered by the drone without a search warrant specifically allowing for it.

Prosecutors had previously dropped charges against Brossart’s wife and daughter, for their alleged roles in keeping police at bay. Charges against his three sons related to terrorizing are still pending.

"This case should have never happened," state District Judge Joel Medd said in court. "Chalk it up to stubbornness, to stupidity, to being at odds with your neighbors or any combination of those. We should never have been here if the cows would have just been returned."

Forbes magazine predicted it won't be the last time drones are used to put Americans in prison, and reported the use of drones for police missions is on the rise. Between 2010 and 2012, law enforcement agencies used CBP Predator drones for 700 missions, the media outlet reported.

 

[DesertBull]

I hate our government.

[n2horns]

very scary

[Edge]

Anyone hunting, 4x4ing along the Mexican Border in the last 40 years had their movements watched by Fat Albert, too.

[az_shooter]

I've had UAV's circle around us while out hunting before, it is what it is, life on the border.

[muledeerarea33?]

/>

I've had UAV's circle around us while out hunting before, it is what it is, life on the border.

its one thing while out hunting, it's a totaly different deal when their watching you take a leak in your back yard or checking out what your cookin on the BBQ!

[25-06]

The last 3 weeks I have been doing a job down south between sonoita and patagonia. I hear them drones all day long but can never see em.

Just this week I heard one that was real loud and close as it sounded like it was in the next canyon over. Well after about 20 minutes of looking for it

my buddy says Its right there. That thing was up above us and nothin but a tiny spec in the blue sky.

[biglakejake]

somebody beat me to it. ebay cancelled my order last month.....

lee

 

RENDING

Neighborhood watch sign is a guided missile launcher, sure to give robbers pause But mostly the unit is part of San Diego-area man's tribute to WWII veterans

 

March 26, 2014 by Pete Thomas

Terry Ulmer shows off imposing neighborhood watch sign; screen grab from video

Burglars often prowl rural neighborhoods, hoping to find unwatched homes. But chances are good that any robber who happens to drive by Terry Ulmer’s home is going to seek another town in which to carry out his dirty work.

Ulmer lives in Alpine, in east San Diego County, and it’s impossible to drive along his street without noticing his neighborhood-watch sign: a World War II–era surface-to-air guided missile launcher.

“You go into [most] neighborhoods and see a little sign that says ‘Neighborhood Watch.’ Well, this is how we roll out here in Alpine,” Ulmer told Fox 5 San Diego.

 

 

[Snapshot]

You can get one of these stinger systems for $38,000. Just got to find a Black market weapons dealer to sell you one

 

 

 

 

 

[azshtr]

I was buzzed by one as it was landing. Those things are much larger than I was expecting.