DHS new Terror Warning: "We are now focused on Americans taking up arms"

[Ryan Ruck]

From a shooter training standpoint, those targets are a HORRIBLE idea.

Those are basically training the shooter that gun = target. Not person with obvious intent and a weapon = target. They remove taking the totality of the situation into account.

Perfect example are the targets of the pregnant woman and the elderly woman. Both are set inside a home. Who's to say this isn't a situation where Mr. Baddie who just held up a convenience store is fleeing from the police and breaks into a house to hide. Officer Friendly sees Mr. Baddie break in and pursues into the house. Mrs. Homeowner hearing a bump in the night, arms herself, and then goes to investigate. Officer Friendly and Mrs. Homeowner pop around opposing corners at the same time and *BOOM*, Officer Friendly pops a couple rounds in Mrs. Homeowner because his training taught that anyone with a gun is a target.

Then again, maybe that's the point.

In the scenario above, all you can really do is harden your entry points with things such as 3M's window film and door reinforcement to prevent entry in the first place by a criminal seeking a target of opportunity or, buy yourself a few minutes to get the situation sorted out with law enforcement.

[American Patriot]

I can tell you from personal real life experience that a cop WILL put their hands up if they are 1)in the wrong, 2) in the wrong house and 3) outgunned by the home owner....

And since I'm such a NICE fucking guy, I didn't kill him and went directly to "challenge ready" instead of pointing at him when I realized he was REALLY a cop with a bad.

My AR15 loaded with me behind a heavy piece of furnature for cover and him standing in the open kind of made him think twice about drawing when he charged into MY home and woke me up.

Needless to say... my young son (at the time) was the one who caught the brunt of the anger from both of us. It would have been a lot worse.... had it been a "bad guy robber" running in though.

[vector7]

Company With Ties to the Federal Gov’t Designs Unsettling Targets for Law Enforcement Community

Feb. 19, 2013 8:33pm Becket Adams

• 197

“What if I told you police in your town could desensitize themselves to the idea of shooting a (armed) child, pregnant woman, or young mother, for just a couple of bucks?” Reason’s Mike Riggs asks.

Sadly, Riggs isn’t simply being perverse. He’s being 100 percent serious:


(Law Enforcement Targets, INC.)

For less than 99 cents per target, police officers can now shoot at real-life images “designed to give [them] the experience of dealing with deadly force shooting scenarios with subjects that are not the norm during training,” according to Law Enforcement Targets, Inc.’s website.

The company calls it the “No More Hesitation” series:



Reason

“Law Enforcement Targets, Inc. provides training targets and supplies for military branches, government agencies, law enforcement agencies, training organizations, private ranges, gun clubs, and shooting enthusiasts in the United States,” a Bloomberg profile on the group reads.

Shortly after contacting the company to find out more about the series, the marketing team at Law Enforcement Targets, Inc. sent Riggs the following statement:

The subjects in NMH targets were chosen in order to give officers the experience of dealing with deadly force shooting scenarios with subjects that are not the norm during training.

I found while speaking with officers and trainers in the law enforcement community that there is a hesitation on the part of cops when deadly force is required on subjects with atypical age, frailty or condition (one officer explaining that he enlarged photos of his own kids to use as targets so that he would not be caught off guard with such a drastically new experience while on duty). This hesitation time may be only seconds but that is not acceptable when officers are losing their lives in these same situations.

The goal of NMH is to break that stereotype on the range, regardless of how slim the chances are of encountering a real life scenario that involves a child, pregnant woman, etc. If that initial hesitation time can be cut down due to range experience, the officer and community are better served.

There are seven targets in the series: Pregnant Woman, Older Man 1, Older Man 2, Older Woman, Young Mother, Young Girl, and Little Brother.



Law Enforcement Targets, INC. (cached).


“Considering that the company has landed $5.5 million worth of contracts with the federal government,” Riggs notes, “it might also be interesting to know if these targets are being used by federal law enforcement agents.”

Law Enforcement Targets, Inc. could not immediately be reached by phone for comment. Also, as of 8:30 p.m. ET, it appears that their website is down.

[vector7]

DHS “Operation Thunderdome”…Is This Free America’s Last Stand?

February 19, 2013 By Tim Powers 9 Comments



I am sure that by now, most of you readers are familiar with the DHS insider interviews.

The latest installment discusses the planned economic collapse of the American economy as well as the planned response by DHS. They have been aggressively training civilian police forces for some time now in combat tactics to thwart a resistance to a total collapse of society. Have you asked yourself yet why the DHS is purchasing millions of rounds of ammunition (some of which is deemed illegal for use by the Geneva convention)? Ammunition that not even our military is allowed to use? The DHS currently now has enough ammunition to shoot every man, woman, and child four to five times. Do you find this disturbing?

According to the DHS insider, the group “Obama for America” has been re-activated; and young people have been hired for a minimum wage to surf the internet. Their purpose? To infiltrate social networks and blogs and to hack user e-mail in an attempt to establish a list of “enemies” of the Obama regime. They are also tasked with spreading misinformation (propaganda). Have any of you noticed that some of your Facebook or Twitter postings mysteriously disappear? There is your sign.

I would dare say, though, that the scariest aspect of this operation is the fact that through all of this information gathering, DHS is building a “Target” or “kill” list. This just isn’t a list with just big names on the right like Hannity, Limbaugh, Savage, or Beck on it. My sources have confirmed that I am on it as well, being listed as a writer for The Western Center for Journalism. I was recently asked by my editor if this threat would stop me from writing; my response was “absolutely not!!” They already know who I am, so I will continue to fight them with my pen until the time comes to access other means.

Please don’t take this information for granted. The Obama regime has already set the wheels in motion; they already have what is necessary in order to declare Martial law. They just need to trigger the collapse. Do your research, fellow Patriots; the time is drawing near to fight for the very survival of a FREE America. As always, my friends, stay safe and be aware of your surroundings.

[Malsua]

Those are basically training the shooter that gun = target. Not person with obvious intent and a weapon = target.

If the person with the gun isn't wearing black with a balaclava on their face, they are a legal target.

I would like to have a law that where SWAT or similar types of teams are NOT ALLOWED TO COVER THEIR FUCKING FACES LIKE A GOD DAMN CRIMINAL!!!

[American Patriot]

If the person with the gun isn't wearing black with a balaclava on their face, they are a legal target.

I would like to have a law that where SWAT or similar types of teams are NOT ALLOWED TO COVER THEIR FUCKING FACES LIKE A GOD DAMN CRIMINAL!!!

it is well past time for peoeple to start picking up their hockey equipment, masks, black uniforms, balaclavas and machines guns... (yes, I said machine guns).

[Malsua]

it is well past time for peoeple to start picking up their hockey equipment, masks, black uniforms, balaclavas and machines guns... (yes, I said machine guns).

Look at what one guy with determination did?

If these fuckers start shooting at anyone with a gun, specially young, pretty, pregnant girls, they're going to find themselves hung out to dry. Politicians will abandon them and someone will find them and if not make them swallow a pistol, will put them in the hospital, missing teeth and maybe a kidney or spleen.

[American Patriot]

If someone were to shoot my daughter... I'd do exactly that. He's swallow his gun. The hard way.

[vector7]

I see the pattern. Two Billion rounds, DHS warning against Right Wing Extremism and...

Video: The nice young man Eric Holder let off the hook

Share1038
posted at 10:00 pm on July 6, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
printer-friendly

When Attorney General Eric Holder suddenly reversed course and had the DoJ dismiss the voter-intimidation case against two New Black Panther Party activists stemming from an incident in 2008 in Philadelphia, many questioned why the DoJ would quit a case it had already won.

Attorneys within the DoJ wondered why the federal government had suddenly become disinterested in voter intimidation. Some, like Christian Adams, Asheesh Agarwal, and Mark Corallo have gone public with their outrage, and also wonder where the hell Congress has gone in its duty to oversee the executive branch and its enforcement of laws Congress passed.

Well, look, maybe this was just a bad day for the defendants.

Maybe they were just nice young men who took civic engagement to a momentary extreme of enthusiasm. They’re probably just nice guys caught in a single instance of bad judgment … right? Er, not exactly, as Naked Emperor News and Breitbart’s B-Cast discovers after watching National Geographic:



Lovely. Someone’s crackers, and I’d say it’s the people who decided to drop the case against this lunatic.

[Ryan Ruck]

I see the pattern. Two Billion rounds, DHS warning against Right Wing Extremism and...

I was listening to Mark Levin the other day and he was discussing this. He was reading a piece that said this was enough ammo to fight in Afghanistan for another 11 years! I've been meaning to hunt down what he was reading from and post it.

[vector7]

I was listening to Mark Levin the other day and he was discussing this. He was reading a piece that said this was enough ammo to fight in Afghanistan for another 11 years! I've been meaning to hunt down what he was reading from and post it.

See what you did...you made me go and dig it up.

The DHS Ammo Purchases

Posted By Grim • [February 08, 2013]

There are a couple of interesting questions about the Federal government's robust purchase of ammunition at a time when "a decade of war is ending." Here are two from Investors Business Daily:

1) Other Federal agencies have offered some sort of explanation about their purchases, but DHS has bought 1.6 billion rounds without explaining why it needs that kind of stock. That's enough ammunition to cover the Iraq War outlays for 25 years (although not the right types: these are mostly handgun cartridges, and presumably not FMJ as there is no Geneva Conventions protecting civilians from expanding bullets).

2) Why did DHS illegally redact information from its purchasing orders of ammunition?

Here's one more question, from me: Currently the US Navy is slashing ship maintenance, and delaying the departure of the carrier group scheduled to support operations in Afghanistan. The US Army says that 78% of its brigades will be unsat for combat due to anticipated training cutbacks. Both services are engaged in fighting an actual war.

Is it too much to ask that we prioritize Naval ship maintenance and the training of Brigade Combat Teams over these ammunition purchases? We're actually going to use the brigades and the ships. Rarely does the TSA find itself called to shoot anyone, and the Border Patrol gets in trouble every time it discharges a weapon. Presumably most of these rounds are to be used, then, in training of law enforcement rather than for actual combat. If anyone needs to cut back on training dollars right now, why not let the BCTs train and have Homelands Security stand down?

I know the answer to this question, of course. It's because Congress is incompetent to pass a budget and has been for years, while the President is so far out to sea that his last budget didn't get even a single vote in the House.

No leadership.


DHS Purchases 21.6 Million More Rounds Of Ammunition, Has Enough Ammo For A 30 Year War

The Department of Homeland Security is set to purchase a further 21.6 million rounds of ammunition to add to the 1.6 billion bullets it has already obtained over the course of the last 10 months alone, figures which have stoked concerns that the federal agency is preparing for civil unrest.

[IMG]http://static.************.com/p/images/february2013/070213dhs.jpg[/IMG]

A solicitation posted yesterday asks for 10 million pistol cartridge .40 caliber 165 Grain, jacketed Hollow point bullets (100 quantities of 100,000 rounds) and 10 million 9mm 115 grain jacketed hollow point bullets (100 quantities of 100,000 rounds).

The document also lists a requirement for 1.6 million pistol cartridge 9mm ball bullets (40 quantities of 40,000 rounds).

An approximation of how many rounds of ammunition the DHS has now secured over the last 10 months stands at around 1.625 billion.

Read More Here

Doesn't make a whole lot of sense unless you also take into account other current events. NDAA, Drones, militarization of local police forces, Obama's cyberwar power, Sandy Hook and the gun ban 'movement', economic topsy turvy, gopolitical positioning and movements leading to a world war.

Then you begin to get a clear picture as to whats going on.

Basically this, the United States is on the downside on the slope, we are a falling power and trying to hang on desperately. Now the government is not apt to go by itself, its going to take all of us, or as much of us as it can, with them. Its what they do (Syria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan..) -Mort

DHS Ammo Purchases: Gun Control by Another Name?



by AWR Hawkins 10 Feb 2013 post a comment

According to reports, the Department of Homeland Security has stockpiled over 1.6 billion rounds of ammo for its various agencies, and one of the worst side effects of this appears to be a shortage of ammo for private gun owners.

The question is--what if the shortage is intentional?

Bear with me here. I am not a "conspiracy theorist" nor do I believe that DHS is stockpiling bullets in order to wage war on Americans, as some commentators have suggested.

However, I do believe they know these massive ammo purchases are driving supply down and prices up, and that's generally a good thing for an administration that doesn't think people ought to be able to own guns to begin with.

Think about it this way--although reports indicate DHS had 1.6 billion rounds stockpiled as of spring 2012, they recently ordered over 20 million more.

Many of these rounds are in .40 cal and 9mm--two very popular rounds for civilians--and will be manufactured by ATK, which owns Federal. Federal, as you know, produces a lot of the ammunition that civilians used to purchase at Wal-Mart and other stores, when Wal-Mart and other stores could find ammo to put on their shelves.

The bottom line--gun owners are facing a perfect storm. Civilians are buying up every box of ammo they can find in anticipation of a federal gun grab and less ammo is making it to the shelves to replace what is being purchased, largely because so many rounds of ammo are being sent to fill government orders.
Sounds like gun control by another name.


DHS ammo buy: Equipping a police state?




‘Not the number of bullets we need to worry about, but number of feds with guns’

(Investors) – In a puzzling, unexplained development, the Obama administration has been buying and storing vast amounts of ammunition in recent months, with the Department of Homeland Security just placing another order for an additional 21.6 million rounds.

Several other agencies of the federal government also began buying large quantities of bullets last year. The Social Security Administration, for instance, not normally considered on the frontlines of anything but dealing with seniors, explained that its purchase of millions of rounds was for special agents’ required quarterly weapons qualifications. They must be pretty poor shots.

But DHS has been silent about its need for numerous orders of bullets in the multiple millions. Indeed, Examiner writer Ryan Keller points out Janet Napolitano’s agency illegally redacted information from some ammunition solicitation forms following media inquiries.

According to one estimate, just since last spring DHS has stockpiled more than 1.6 billion bullets, mainly .40 caliber and 9mm. That’s sufficient firepower to shoot every American about five times. Including illegal immigrants.

To provide some perspective, experts estimate that at the peak of the Iraq war American troops were firing around 5.5 million rounds per month. At that rate, DHS is armed now for a 24-year Iraq war.

The perceived need for so much ammunition in federal custody is especially strange given Obama’s double-barreled emphasis in his inaugural address on the approaching end in Afghanistan “of a decade of war.” And he also noted, “We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war.”

The lack of a credible official explanation for such awesome ammunition acquisitions is feeding all sorts of conspiracy theories, mainly centered on federal anticipation of some kind of domestic insurrection. Napolitano has at times alluded to threats from the extreme right-wing.

Other conspiracists harken back to an Obama Colorado campaign speech in July, 2008. That day he deviated from his prepared text to say:

“We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.”

Writing at American Thinker, Lee Cary noted at the time that the speech context seemed to involve expanded opportunities for community service. But as still happens when Obama goes off-teleprompter, his non-fortuitous word choice on the fly such as “national security force” prompted numerous writers to speculate since about some kind of national Obama para-military force.

And as great as Obama’s unlikely, newly-revealed passion for skeet-shooting might be, that involves shotguns, not handguns over-heated from blasting off millions of rounds.

Additionally, Napolitano, a former governor of Arizona, is widely expected to seek the 2016 Democrat presidential nomination. But you wouldn’t think she’d need that much ammo for such a bid.

Radio host Michael Savage listed one more factor on his program last week, citing not only the rise in federal acquisition of guns and ammunition, but also the simultaneous effort by the Obama administration to place more restrictions on private gun ownership.

“If you want to get paranoid, Obama can really help you in your work,” Savage continued. “Why would the Department of Homeland Security have purchased 1.6 billion rounds of hollow-point ammunition over the last 10 months at the same time they’re trying to disarm the average American citizen?”

[Ryan Ruck]

Wow, 30 years... I misremembered on the low side!

Thanks for finding that too vector!

[Malsua]

This ammo will probably get released back to the public 20 years from now when a sane administration is in office.

[Ryan Ruck]

We should be so lucky!

Of course that would mean we end up paying for it twice...

[Malsua]

We should be so lucky!

Of course that would mean we end up paying for it twice...

I'll also be willing to bet that some of it gets to market much sooner.

This much of a commodity that the public can use will be too large of a temptation for someone.

[vector7]

Sarah Palin: Feds ‘stockpiling bullets’ to use against us


Palin said on Facebook that she wants lawmakers to 'stop the hysterics.' | AP Photo

By KEVIN CIRILLI | 2/27/13 9:26 AM EST

Sarah Palin says America will eventually default on its debt and claims that the federal government is “stockpiling bullets in case of civil unrest” to prepare.

“If we are going to wet our proverbial pants over 0.3% in annual spending cuts when we’re running up trillion dollar annual deficits, then we’re done. Put a fork in us. We’re finished. We’re going to default eventually and that’s why the feds are stockpiling bullets in case of civil unrest,” Palin wrote in a Facebook message Tuesday.

The former GOP governor of Alaska was referring to the sequester, the automatic $1.2 trillion cuts in federal funding that take effect Friday unless lawmakers reach a deal.

“D.C.: Cut the Drama. Do Your Job. Americans are sick and tired of yet another ginned-up crisis. D.C. needs to grow up, get to work, and live within its means,” wrote Palin, the GOP’s 2008 vice presidential running mate of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

She continued: “The real economic Armageddon looming before us is our runaway debt, not the sequester, which the President advocated for and signed into law and is now running around denouncing because he never had any genuine intention of reining in his reckless spending.”

Palin wrote that she wants lawmakers to “stop the hysterics.”

“If we ARE serious about putting our fiscal house in order, then let’s stop the hysterics, tighten our belts, and take our medicine.”

[Phil Fiord]

Where does one actually secure that much ammo? I mean, that is likely enough to build a skyscraper of ammo boxes.

[American Patriot]

Vector posted pictures of the containers recently (Conex type containers)

[vector7]

The Obama Administration repositioning their Homeland Security ammunition containers



The containers (like those pictured) are usually painted olive drab and are unmarked except for indistinguishable numbers/letters probably for inventory, routing, etc.

Reader Don sent this in recently:

Jim – I passed a convoy of olive drab unmarked 40 foot tractor trailers each with four 10 yard ammo bunker boxes chained to them and unmarked armored Hum-Vee’s heading north on I-95 in Brevard County, Florida this past Thursday morning. The “govt” is positioning these ammo storage boxes, I have been told, in strategic places in population centers around the country. They are usually painted olive drab and are unmarked except for indistinguishable numbers/letters probably for inventory, routing, etc.

Obma’s Homeland Security Department has purchased 1.4 billion rounds of ammunition – that is not a typo — during the last six months.



ATK is one company that won a contract with the Department of Homeland Security to provide 450 million rounds of .40 caliber ammunition in 2012.

Previously it was reported that people around the US have begun reporting the site of strange, new, heavily-armed FEMA fighting vehicles this past year.



One set of images made available by Rense.com shows trailer after trailer carrying these new DHS and FEMA armored fighting vehicles, complete with machine gun slots. They’re labeled with the usual backward American flag and the title, ‘Homeland Security’. Below that and the DHS logo, it also reads, ‘Immigration & Customs Enforcement’. Joining those markings, the black vehicles with white lettering also display ‘POLICE/RESCUE’ on one side and ‘Special Response Team’ on the other.

Whiteout Press reported on the government ammunition purchases back in October 2012.

As we detailed in the August 28 Whiteout Press article ‘History of DHS Ammunition Purchases’, federal emergency management agencies are looking more and more like a military army every day.

The federal government’s procurement website actually lists DHS’ requests for bids to supply it with ammunition and military weaponry. All of the orders listed in the above article, including the orders for hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition, are publicly available at http://www.fbo.gov.

One look at a chart of DHS ammunition purchases over the past decade reveals a drastic spike in orders of bullets recently, totaling in the billions of rounds. Other charts available online show a similar drastic spike in the purchases of accompanying weaponry by the Department of Homeland Security.

What is the US federal government preparing for? And why does it feel it needs an army of brainwashed youth, millions of guns, thousands of armored fighting vehicles and literally billions of rounds of ammunition, just to provide relief to the American people during a natul disaster? Any historian will tell you it sounds more like the arming of the Hitler Youth than an army of first responders fighting forest fires and hurricanes.

Look for the Homeland Security ammunition containers coming soon to your community.

Here too...

So Vector posted this one: http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013...on-containers/

And it was snapped up by the Western Rifle Shooters Association as well.

The number of idiots posting comments though is pretty telling.

Where are the Liberals coming from all of a sudden?

BOLO*

Posted on January 29, 2013 | Leave a comment

Obama Administration Repositioning Homeland Security Ammunition Containers
*Be on the lookout.
Tempus fugit.

[vector7]

DHS built domestic surveillance tech into Predator drones to detect if civilians arearmed

Homeland Security's specifications say drones must be able to detect whether a civilian is armed. Also specified: "signals interception" and "direction finding" for electronic surveillance.

by Declan McCullagh
March 2, 2013 11:30 AM PST

Homeland Security required that this Predator drone, built by General Atomics, be capable of detecting whether a standing human at night is "armed or not." (Credit: U.S. Department of Homeland Security)

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has customized its Predator drones, originally built for overseas military operations, to carry out at-home surveillance tasks that have civil libertarians worried: identifying civilians carrying guns and tracking their cell phones, government documents show.

The documents provide more details about the surveillance capabilities of the department's unmanned Predator B drones, which are primarily used to patrol the United States' northern and southern borders but have been pressed into service on behalf of a growing number of law enforcement agencies including the FBI, the Secret Service, the Texas Rangers, and local police.

Homeland Security's specifications for its drones, built by San Diego-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, say they "shall be capable of identifying a standing human being at night as likely armed or not," meaning carrying a shotgun or rifle. They also specify "signals interception" technology that can capture communications in the frequency ranges used by mobile phones, and "direction finding" technology that can identify the locations of mobile devices or two-way radios.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center obtained a partially redacted copy of Homeland Security's requirements for its drone fleet through the Freedom of Information Act and published it this week. CNET unearthed an unredacted copy of the requirements that provides additional information about the aircraft's surveillance capabilities.


Homeland Security's Predator B drone can stay aloft conducting surveillance for 20 hours.
(Credit: U.S. Department of Homeland Security)

Concern about domestic use of drones is growing, with federal legislation introduced last month that would establish legal safeguards, in addition to parallel efforts underway from state and local lawmakers. The Federal Aviation Administration recently said that it will "address privacy-related data collection" by drones.

The prospect of identifying armed Americans concerns Second Amendment advocates, who say that technology billed as securing the United States' land and maritime borders should not be used domestically. Michael Kostelnik, the Homeland Security official who created the program, told Congress that the drone fleet would be available to "respond to emergency missions across the country," and a Predator drone was dispatched to the tiny town of Lakota, N.D., to aid local police in a dispute that began with reimbursement for feeding six cows. The defendant, arrested with the help of Predator surveillance, lost a preliminary bid to dismiss the charges.

"I am very concerned that this technology will be used against law-abiding American firearms owners," says Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation. "This could violate Fourth Amendment rights as well as Second Amendment rights."

Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection agency declined to answer questions about whether direction-finding technology is currently in use on its drone fleet. A representative provided CNET with a statement about the agency's unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that said signals interception capability is not currently used:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is not deploying signals interception capabilities on its UAS fleet. Any potential deployment of such technology in the future would be implemented in full consideration of civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy interests and in a manner consistent with the law and long-standing law enforcement practices.

CBP's UAS program is a vital border security asset. Equipped with state-of-the-art sensors and day-and-night cameras, the UAS provides real-time images to frontline agents to more effectively and efficiently secure the nation's borders. As a force multiplier, the UAS operates for extended periods of time and allows CBP to safely conduct missions over tough-to-reach terrain. The UAS also provides agents on the ground with added situational awareness to more safely resolve dangerous situations.

During his appearance before the House Homeland Security committee, Kostelnik, a retired Air Force major general who recently left the agency, testified that the drones' direction-finding ability is part of a set of "DOD capabilities that are being tested or adopted by CBP to enhance UAS performance for homeland security." CBP currently has 10 Predator drones and is considering buying up to 14 more.


If the Predator drones were used only to identify smugglers or illegal immigrants crossing the Mexican and Canadian borders, or for disaster relief, they might not be especially controversial. But their use domestically by other government agencies has become routine enough -- and expensive enough -- that Homeland Security's inspector general said (PDF) last year that CBP needs to sign agreements "for reimbursement of expenses incurred fulfilling mission requests."


"The documents clearly evidence that the Department of Homeland Security is developing drones with signals interception technology and the capability to identify people on the ground," says Ginger McCall, director of the Open Government Project at the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "This allows for invasive surveillance, including potential communications surveillance, that could run afoul of federal privacy laws."

A Homeland Security official, who did not want to be identified by name, said the drones are able to identify whether movement on the ground comes from a human or an animal, but that they do not perform facial recognition. The official also said that because the unarmed drones have a long anticipated life span, the department tries to plan ahead for future uses to support its border security mission, and that aerial surveillance would comply with the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and other applicable federal laws.

The documents show that CBP specified that the "tracking accuracy should be sufficient to allow target designation," and the agency notes on its Web site that its Predator B series is capable of "targeting and weapons delivery" (the military version carries multiple 100-pound Hellfire missiles). CBP says, however, that its Predator aircraft are unarmed.

Gene Hoffman, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who's the chairman of the Calguns Foundation, said CBP "needs to be very careful with attempts to identify armed individuals in the border area" when aerial surveillance touches on a constitutional right.

"In the border area of California and Arizona, it may be actively dangerous for the law-abiding to not carry firearms precisely due to the illegal flow of drugs and immigrants across the border in those areas," Hoffman says.

CBP's specifications say that signals interception and direction-finding technology must work from 30MHz to 3GHz in the radio spectrum. That sweeps in the GSM and CDMA frequencies used by mobile phones, which are in the 300MHz to 2.7GHz range, as well as many two-way radios.

The specifications say: "The system shall provide automatic and manual DF of multiple signals simultaneously. Automatic DF should be able to separate out individual communication links." Automated direction-finding for cell phones has become an off-the-shelf technology: one company sells a unit that its literature says is "capable of taking the bearing of every mobile phone active in a channel."

Although CBP's unmanned Predator aircraft are commonly called drones, they're remotely piloted by FAA-licensed operators on the ground. They can fly for up to 20 hours and carry a payload of about 500 lbs.