Armed with a search warrant, Nelson County Sheriff Kelly Janke went looking for six missing cows on the Brossart family farm in the early evening of June 23. Three men brandishing rifles chased him off, he said.
Janke knew the gunmen could be anywhere on the 3,000-acre spread in eastern North Dakota. Fearful of an armed standoff, he called in reinforcements from the state Highway Patrol, a regional SWAT team, a bomb squad, ambulances and deputy sheriffs from three other counties.
He also called in a Predator B drone.
As the unmanned aircraft circled 2 miles overhead the next morning, sophisticated sensors under the nose helped pinpoint the three suspects and showed they were unarmed. Police rushed in and made the first known arrests of U.S. citizens with help from a Predator, the spy drone that has helped revolutionize modern warfare.
But that was just the start. Local police say they have used two unarmed Predators based at Grand Forks Air Force Base to fly at least two dozen surveillance flights since June. The FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration have used Predators for other domestic investigations, officials said.
“We don’t use [drones] on every call out,” said Bill Macki, head of the police SWAT team in Grand Forks. “If we have something in town like an apartment complex, we don’t call them.”
The drones belong to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which operates eight Predators on the country’s northern and southwestern borders to search for illegal immigrants and smugglers. The previously unreported use of its drones to assist local, state and federal law enforcement has occurred without any public acknowledgment or debate.
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So what are the fact of the situation? Private ranch. missing cows. rancher confronted on his own land. Armed confronters. Asked for local law enforcement help in dealing with unknown trespassers. Trespassers caught without harm to law enforcement. Trespassers caught on private land. Trespassers caught without calling out large numbers to search for culprits. Drones saved money and maybe law enforcement lives. Are you saying that it would have been better to send 1,000 deputies on foot?
Look at the information given. Remember we used to hang horse thieves. Just ask Harry Reid about one of his ancestors.
Are you saying we should not protect private property? Are you saying we should spend lots of money doing it old fashion way? Are you saying cow thieves have higher rights than owner of cows? Are you saying that trespassors have right not to be found?
Drones saved money. Maybe saved lives.
Ed K