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Governor McDonnell: Aerial surveillance is GREAT!

Repeater

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
Messages
2,498
Location
Richmond, Virginia, USA
Bob for [strike]jobs[/strike] drones thinks surveillance over the friendly skies of Virginia would be a great help for law enforcement. Certainly it would help keep tabs on open display of firearms around Virginia, a battlefield environment(?).

Gov.: Drones over Va. 'great'; cites battlefield success
Police drones flying over Virginia would be "great" and "the right thing to do" for the same reasons they are so effective in a battlefield environment, the state's chief executive said Tuesday.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, says he is open to any technology that makes law enforcement more productive. The use of drones, which was recently endorsed by the police chiefs of Fairfax County and D.C., would make better use of valuable police resources.

Increased safety and reduced manpower are among the reasons the U.S. military and intelligence community use drones on the battlefield, which is why it should be considered in Virginia, he says.

"It's great," he said while speaking on WTOP's "Ask the Governor" program. "If you're keeping police officers safe, making it more productive and saving money...it's absolutely the right thing to do."

Officer Safety!
 

TFred

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Oct 13, 2008
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Most historic town in, Virginia, USA
Although it appeared to be almost an afterthought, he did throw in some caveats regarding the protection of civil rights. There is a link to the whole interview on the web page, this part was in the second half, I believe.

"McDonnell added Tuesday it will prove important to ensure the state maintains Americans' civil liberties, such as privacy, if it adds drones to its law enforcement arsenal."

TFred
 

peter nap

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Oct 16, 2007
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13,551
Location
Valhalla
Although it appeared to be almost an afterthought, he did throw in some caveats regarding the protection of civil rights. There is a link to the whole interview on the web page, this part was in the second half, I believe.

"McDonnell added Tuesday it will prove important to ensure the state maintains Americans' civil liberties, such as privacy, if it adds drones to its law enforcement arsenal."

TFred

There are already FAA approved civilian drone sites here. There's one on top of MCV. I guess VCU is using it to keep the students safe:uhoh:
 

TFred

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Most historic town in, Virginia, USA

Dreamer

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Sep 23, 2009
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Location
Grennsboro NC
I'm pretty sure we could get an extension on the time period.

Judge Napolitano's e-postal match for May.


A "citizen" shooting down a drone might very well be the sort of agent-provocateur operation that could get martial law put into effect.

This close to the election, even a small-scale, isolated Armed Citizen Revolt against these drones could be just the sort of thing that would get the election suspended, and folks may just find out how real those FEMA Camps really are.

Under NDAA, an action like shooting down a drone could very well get your name put on the "Assassination list". No arrest, no judge, no prison--just a hit team sent to your house to take you and your family out Waco-style.

I'm all for the IDEA of citizens taking out these illegal, unconstitutional drones, but in practice, such an action may be the first step toward our worst nightmare.

The first citizen who shoots down a drone WILL be a Patriot Hero--just like Crispus Attucks--and will probably meet the same fate...
 

Blk97F150

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Joined
Dec 21, 2010
Messages
1,179
Location
Virginia
I'm guessing that in addition to Open/Concealed Carry.... a sense of humor is prohibited in The Peoples Republik of Merryland too... :p
 

TFred

Regular Member
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Oct 13, 2008
Messages
7,750
Location
Most historic town in, Virginia, USA
Never new Bob had fascist leanings.

Oh well.
The Governor is a politician. Sometimes they look like fascists, sometimes they look like conservatives, sometimes they look like ... (you get the point).

The simple fact is that McDonnell believes more people will support the law enforcement benefits of drones than will oppose the civil rights threats. If it were the other way around, so would be his position.

TFred
 

peter nap

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Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
13,551
Location
Valhalla
The Governor is a politician. Sometimes they look like fascists, sometimes they look like conservatives, sometimes they look like ... (you get the point).

The simple fact is that McDonnell believes more people will support the law enforcement benefits of drones than will oppose the civil rights threats. If it were the other way around, so would be his position.

TFred


That's exactly right TFred!

Now we need to be asking our future Governor if he will veto any funding for these potential skeet.
 

Freedom1Man

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2012
Messages
4,462
Location
Greater Eastside Washington
one well aimed directions microwave antenna...

The Army learned, the hard way, that drones are prone to crashing if you hit them with a directional microwave beam.

You'll need a decent klystron though. It you can get hold of a surplus TRC-170 radio they are perfect for bringing down drones. The commo unit I was in brought down about a dozen before anyone figured out what was happening. It was the planner's fault for putting a 'shot' over the airstrip they were launching from.
 
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