Friday, July 5th, 2013 — Good Morning, Stay Safe
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Brooklyn North Impact P.P.O. Jamil Sarwar: 10:54 p.m. Cypress Hills Houses: f/o 365 Fountain Avenue.
Rookie NYPD cop wounded after sniper fires from Brooklyn housing project: sources
By LARRY CELONA, MATT McNULTY and FRANK ROSARIO — Friday, July 5th, 2013 ‘The New York Post’
William Miller Police investigate a Thursday shooting in East New York that left a rookie cop wounded.
A rookie NYPD cop was shot by a sniper firing from a Brooklyn housing project late last night, law enforcement sources said.
Hundreds of cops descended on the Cypress Hills Houses and put the area on virtual lockdown as they searched door-to-door for the gunman who shot Officer Jamil Sarwar in the thigh, just above the knee, sources said.
“He was shot by a sniper,” said a law-enforcement source.
Around 10:45 pm, an officer in an elevated surveillance tower saw two people shooting at each other on Sutter Avenue, the northern border of the houses, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said in a press conference last night.
“They pursued the individual thought to be involved in the original shooting ... but they lost him,” Kelly said.
Sarwar and his partner Javier Solos — who were on foot patrol nearby — also responded and were inside the housing complex when they heard two to three shots fired, Kelly and sources said.
“They go into 365 Fountain to take cover. When they are inside, they realize that officer Sawar had been shot in the right thigh,” Kelly said.
Law enforcement sources said they believe the gunman intentionally targeted Sarwar and Solos.
“They were standing together. It’s a well-lit area. They had to know they were shooting at cops,” a law enforcement source said.
Sarwar — a Bangladeshi native who joined the force in 2012 — was taken to Jamaica Hospital with a single gunshot wound and was expected to recover.
“He’s very lucky. He could have been struck at any part of his body and the other officer with him also could have been struck,” Kelly said.
The Brooklyn North Impact officer was in good spirits last night — his parents and siblings rushed to his bedside — as doctors tried to determine if the bullet should be removed, Kelly said.
The victim, Jamil Sarwar, is expected to recover.
Cops believe the gunshot came from an apartment window at the housing complex, or possibly from a rooftop.
Investigators found 9mm and 40-caliber shell casings — four in all — on a rooftop as well as on the ground, sources said, but it was not known if they were related to Sarwar’s shooting, Kelly and sources said.
“I heard some yelling and someone said a cop got shot," said resident Gabe Falton, 52. “And then cops just flooded the area. I have never seen so many cops. They’re looking for some guy shooting down on the cop like a sniper.”
William Miller Police visit the scene of Thursday's shooting.
About 60 police cars, nine NYPD crime-scene trucks, and helicopters arrived at the housing project in a massive effort to find the shooter.
Adding to the chaos, firecrackers from Fourth of July revelers continued to explode around the housing project’s grounds well past midnight, rattling already jittery neighbors.
The housing project is known for its violent gang activity, a source said.
“The Bloods live in the front houses and the Crips live in the back and side houses, and they’ve been having a running feud,” the source noted. “They’re looking at both gangs.”
Investigators are probing whether the shooting was gang-related and whether Sarwar was the intended target.
Additional reporting Matt McNulty
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Two people questioned over sniper shooting of NYPD cop in Brooklyn
By LARRY CELONA, MATT McNULTY and FRANK ROSARIO — Friday, July 5th, 2013 ‘The New York Post’
Two people are being questioned over the sniper shooting of a rookie NYPD cop outside a Brooklyn housing project last night, source said.
Last night, hundreds of cops descended on the Cypress Hills Houses and put the area on virtual lockdown as they searched door-to-door for the gunman who shot Officer Jamil Sarwar in the thigh, just above the knee, sources said.
“He was shot by a sniper,” said a law-enforcement source.
Around 10:45 pm, an officer in an elevated surveillance tower saw two people shooting at each other on Sutter Avenue, the northern border of the houses, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said in a press conference last night.
“They pursued the individual thought to be involved in the original shooting ... but they lost him,” Kelly said.
Sarwar and his partner Javier Solos — who were on foot patrol nearby — also responded and were inside the housing complex when they heard two to three shots fired, Kelly and sources said.
“They go into 365 Fountain to take cover. When they are inside, they realize that officer Sawar had been shot in the right thigh,” Kelly said.
Law enforcement sources said they believe the gunman intentionally targeted Sarwar and Solos.
“They were standing together. It’s a well-lit area. They had to know they were shooting at cops,” a law enforcement source said.
Sarwar — a Bangladeshi native who joined the force in 2012 — was taken to Jamaica Hospital with a single gunshot wound and was expected to recover.
“He’s very lucky. He could have been struck at any part of his body and the other officer with him also could have been struck,” Kelly said.
The Brooklyn North Impact officer was in good spirits last night — his parents and siblings rushed to his bedside — as doctors tried to determine if the bullet should be removed, Kelly said.
Cops believe the gunshot came from an apartment window at the housing complex, or possibly from a rooftop.
Investigators found 9mm and 40-caliber shell casings — four in all — on a rooftop as well as on the ground, sources said, but it was not known if they were related to Sarwar’s shooting, Kelly and sources said.
“I heard some yelling and someone said a cop got shot," said resident Gabe Falton, 52. “And then cops just flooded the area. I have never seen so many cops. They’re looking for some guy shooting down on the cop like a sniper.”
About 60 police cars, nine NYPD crime-scene trucks, and helicopters arrived at the housing project in a massive effort to find the shooter.
Adding to the chaos, firecrackers from Fourth of July revelers continued to explode around the housing project’s grounds well past midnight, rattling already jittery neighbors.
The housing project is known for its violent gang activity, a source said.
“The Bloods live in the front houses and the Crips live in the back and side houses, and they’ve been having a running feud,” the source noted. “They’re looking at both gangs.”
Investigators are probing whether the shooting was gang-related and whether Sarwar was the intended target.
Additional reporting Matt McNulty
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NYPD officer shot while on patrol in Brooklyn, remains in stable condition
The cop was patrolling the Cypress Hills public housing development on foot in Brooklyn when he was shot in the right leg, sources say.
By Chelsia Rose Marcius , Joe Kemp , Mark Morales AND Daniel Beekman — Friday, July 5th, 2013 ‘The New York Daily News’
An NYPD cop on routine patrol took a bullet in the leg Thursday night from a creep firing his gun on a Brooklyn rooftop, police sources said.
The 30-year-old officer was on foot patrol at the Cypress Hills Houses in East New York when he was shot once in the right thigh about 10:45 p.m., the sources and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
Kelly visited the wounded cop, Jamil Sarwar, at Jamaica Hospital early Friday. He said Sarwar was in stable condition.
The Brooklyn North Impact unit officer, who has 1 ½ years on the force and previously served with the NYPD traffic division, was hit while responding to a call of shots fired.
The commissioner said officers in a high-rise observation vehicle positioned in front of 1200 Sutter Ave. heard shots and put out the radio call after seeing “an individual shooting at another individual.”
Sarwar and his partner, Javier Solis, reached the scene and took cover in a nearby building at 365 Fountain Ave.
“When they’re inside, they realize that officer Sarwar had been shot,” Kelly said.
Cops found shell casings on the roof of the Fountain Ave. building while searching it and were combing 1200 Sutter Ave. early Friday, he said.
Investigators were not yet sure whether Sarwar was targeted or hit by crossfire.
His family was with him at the hospital and doctors were deciding whether to remove the bullet from his leg.
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Officials: 9/11 responders should apply for funds
By RIDGELY OCHS — Friday, July 5th, 2013 ‘New York Newsday’ / Melville, L.I.
With fewer than 100 days to apply, officials and advocates are worried that ailing 9/11 responders and survivors don't know they may be eligible for the Victim Compensation Fund -- monies that could potentially affect their lifelong health care.
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112 Precinct
(One I missed)
Crime decrease last year in 112th Precinct was actually an increase
Cops had wrongly classified some felonies as misdemeanors. As a result, crime was actually up 1%, not down 4%.
By Rocco Parascandola — Friday, July 5th, 2013 ‘The New York Daily News’
It turns out crime was actually up — not down — last year in Forest Hills and Rego Park.
More than three dozen felonies were wrongly classified as misdemeanors at the Austin St. stationhouse, allowing officials there to report a year-end crime rate decrease, the Daily News has learned.
The error apparently was caused by supervisors at the 112th Precinct who were using an outdated manual for classifying crimes. [?? L.O.L.] About 40 reports, including many identity theft cases wrongly classified as misdemeanors, will apparently now be reclassified as felonies.
As a result, the precinct’s reported 4% drop in felonies last year — with 890 serious crimes, compared to 927 in 2011 — will end up being a slight increase.
“The matter is under investigation by the department’s Quality Assurance Division,” said Insp. Kim Royster, a NYPD spokeswoman.
Capt. Thomas Conforti, who took over as the precinct commander in September, did not respond to requests for comment.
When he joined the 112th, Conforti initially irked cops in his command by reviewing how crime reports were filed — with some believing he wanted to reclassify prior crimes as felonies so it would be easier to show a decrease in major crimes on his watch, a source said.
But other sources familiar with the probe said Conforti did so after the Quality Assurance Division — which ensures the NYPD’s statistical integrity — told him it had determined an identity theft case should have been filed as a grand larceny.
“That reminded him of another similar report he had seen,” one source said. “He looked further and found the 40 or so others.”
Roy Richter, head of the Captains Endowment Association, said any criticism of Conforti is misguided.
“He (did) what he should do,” Richter said. “His actions were not nefarious at all. You want somebody to come in and review what’s going on.
“If mistakes are made you want them corrected.”
It was not clear why the supervisors who review crime classifications were working with an abridged, incomplete crime classification guide.
One source said the section dealing with identity thefts didn’t fully explain that police need to consider how much was stolen before deciding if a grand larceny is the proper classification.
The precinct’s previous commander, Deputy Inspector Christopher Tamola, could not be reached for comment.
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Three NYC employees busted for drunk driving on the Fourth
A cop, a Department of Corrections captain and a bus driver were all accused of boozing before getting behind the wheel.
By Joe Kemp — Friday, July 5th, 2013 ‘The New York Daily News’
(Edited for brevity and NYPD pertinence)
At least three off-duty city employees — including one cop — were arrested for boozy driving on the Fourth of July, police said Friday.
NYPD Officer Elias Blunt, 30, was collared for drunk driving and refusing to take a breath test after cops stopped him on a Brooklyn street about 6 p.m. Thursday, police said.
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Retired Detectives Louis Scarcella (Bklyn. North Homi) and Michael Race (75 PDS)
In a 1992 Murder, Evidence of Flawed Justice
By JIM DWYER — Friday, July 5th, 2013 ‘The New York Times’
At the end of her Wednesday shift as a cashier in a pet-supply store, Elizabeth Flores clocked out and headed across Lexington Avenue in Manhattan to a diner.
There, on a tropical summer afternoon in 2013, she talked about events that took place on a winter day more than 20 years ago, near Ashford Street and Livonia Avenue in the East New York section of Brooklyn. “I’m walking down the block, and my brother Tony comes up,” Ms. Flores said. Using strong language, her brother, she said, described how a drug-addicted woman who hung around on that corner had confided to him that she had implicated two men in a killing that they had nothing to do with.
“He told me, ‘She wanted to get paid,’ ” Ms. Flores said. Her brother and the drug addict are now dead, but records show that Ms. Flores first brought her concerns to the authorities soon after that conversation in 1992.
If what Ms. Flores said is now taken seriously by officials in Brooklyn, she may well loosen another brick in an already rickety structure: the conviction of two men, Everton Wagstaffe and Reginald Connor, for the kidnapping of a 16-year-old girl, Jennifer Negron, in East New York in 1992.
Ms. Negron’s body was found on the street at dawn on Jan. 1, the first recorded murder of more than 2,000 in New York in 1992, one of the bloodiest years in the city’s history.
The sole witness against Mr. Wagstaffe and Mr. Connor was the woman from that street corner, Brunilda Capella, who supported herself with prostitution and was a regular informant for the police. Like other witnesses of that era who got cold feet before trial, she was forcibly detained by the authorities in a hotel until she testified.
The investigation into the killing of the young woman is notable because it is not among the roughly 50 old murder convictions now being reviewed by a special team of prosecutors at the Brooklyn district attorney’s office.
All those cases were handled by a single detective, now retired, named Louis Scarcella. The investigation into the death of Ms. Negron was led by a detective from a different squad, Michael Race of the 75th Precinct. His work with another informant led to the conviction of at least three innocent people.
Of 750 murder investigations that he ran, Mr. Race has said, only one was “done the correct way, A to Z.”
That the trajectory of work by Mr. Race so closely matches that of Mr. Scarcella suggests that the legacy of injustices from that chaotic, bloody era cannot plausibly be laid at the feet of a single detective. Other investigators, as well as prosecutors, defense lawyers, judges and jurors were willing to tolerate or leave unscrutinized what was often sloppy, frayed work.
In the case of Mr. Wagstaffe and Mr. Connor, no records were kept of police interviews with other important witnesses; there was no physical evidence to support the informant’s claims; one witness, a police detective’s daughter, who could provide a seemingly credible alibi for Mr. Wagstaffe, was never interviewed by police, prosecutors or defense lawyers; the owner of a car supposedly used in the kidnapping said she told detectives that she had it with her at church through the night of Ms. Negron’s death. There is no record of any interview of her, either, even though the car was cited as important evidence.
Both Mr. Wagstaffe and Mr. Connor have maintained their innocence and, after years of fighting, were able to arrange DNA testing of every piece of physical evidence that could be found; none of it implicated them, and the DNA in hair found on the victim’s body came from at least one other person.
In 2001, the Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, replied scathingly when asked about Mr. Race’s work after his retirement to exonerate two other innocent men.
“Race is recovering from what he used to do,” Mr. Hynes replied.
Since then, Mr. Hynes has created a special unit to investigate questionable convictions. Asked this week why cases by Mr. Race, which have cost the city millions in lawsuits, were not part of the review, Mr. Hynes said no one had brought claims about him to his office.
But, Mr. Hynes promised, his office “would review any claim of wrongful conviction based on any reason.”
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Staten Island's 121 Precinct
At last, the doors swing open on Staten Island's new police precinct
By Mark D. Stein — Thursday, July 4th, 2013 ‘The Staten Island Advance’ / Staten Island
GRANITEVILLE -- Staten Island’s first new stationhouse in more than 50 years is open for business on the West Shore.
The 121st Precinct and its two-story, stapler-shaped building went active on Monday with 200 personnel, including about 160 police officers, detectives and supervisors, as well as Deputy Inspector Terence Hurson, a Brooklyn native and Richmond resident who previously headed the 94th Precinct, in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint section.
The NYPD’s new digs mean the closure and dismantling of the temporary 122nd Precinct satellite office across from the Staten Island Mall.
The 121st Precinct, which cost $65.5 million to construct, will assume four patrol sections along the West and North shores of the borough, allowing the 120th and 122nd Precincts to stick to parts of the Island closer to both police hubs.
The 121st Precinct will encompass the neighborhoods of Graniteville, Travis, Bulls Head, New Springville, Mariners Harbor, Sea View, Port Richmond, and Castleton Corners.
The new station is located at 950 Richmond Ave., not far from the intersection of Forest Avenue. It’s directly across from the ShopRite on Richmond. The building is set back from the street and has a circular parking lot for civilians. Police vehicles will be parked behind the building.
The building is being hailed as the city’s first “green” cop shop – it was built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver standards, and will use 25 percent less energy and 30 percent less water than a comparable building.
In addition to its energy-friendly amenities, the new stationhouse features a host of offices, including a first floor detectives location that features its own jail cells, as well as about 300 wide blue lockers on the second floor.
Travis resident Gene Guerra, head of the neighborhood’s civic association, said having a new police hub dedicated to the community will make a difference. The neighborhood is currently under the 122nd Precinct’s satellite location across from the Staten Island Mall, which is expected to be dismantled.
“The patrol should increase in this area and others nearby. That should be great,” said Guerra.
Councilman James Oddo (R-Mid-Island) said the best part of the new precinct is that is helps shrink the ground covered by the 120th and 122nd Precincts.
“It creates more direct policing,” he said.
Residents shared their opinions on the new police quarters that opened earlier this week.
“This is not exactly a great neighborhood. I never shop here at night,” said Lola Seidman of Willowbrook, as she shopped at ShopRite across from the precinct. “Now I won’t be afraid. Who wouldn’t feel safer with the precinct here? The more police we have, the safer we are, if people respect them.”
New Springville’s Paul Balzano said he’s happy to have the precinct in the area.
“It’s necessary. You can shorten the Island for the other three precincts,” he said. “It was too much for them.”
He called the building nice and described it as a “state of the art” location.
“It can’t hurt having it,” said Balzano.
Sal Sottile of Annadale works nearby and said the new 121st Precinct was a long time coming.
“The population here has grown, so it makes sense,” he said.
Hurson said more than a week ago he was excited about operating the borough’s new precinct — the city’s first in more than two decades.
“To get the chance to coordinate the opening of a new precinct has been fantastic,” said Hurson, who planned office phone numbers, interviews and played a role in the hiring process at the site. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
He said prior to its opening that he was looking forward to something that happens quite often, adding it will mean a lot at the new police stationhouse.
“I can’t wait for that first time we get a 911 call. I’ll be here,” said Hurson.
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New Jersey (DWI / Shots Fired Inside Unmarked Dept. Vehicle)
Off-duty Jersey City police detective charged with DWI in an unmarked police vehicle
By Michaelangelo Conte — Friday, July 5th, 2013 ‘The Jersey Journal ’ / Jersey City, NJ
An off-duty Jersey City police detective has been charged with drunk driving following an incident in which he allegedly fired his service weapon while inside a police vehicle he was not authorized to have while off-duty, an official said today.
“My administration is going to have a zero tolerance policy for this kind of conduct and we will pursue all possible charges in this situation with zero leniency, including theft of government property and official misconduct,” Jersey City Mayor Steven M. Fulop said in a statement.
Detective William Kallert was arrested this morning after officers responded to Kennedy Boulevard and Lake Street at 3 a.m. on a report of a vehicle blocking the roadway and found Kallert in the vehicle, city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said this afternoon.
The 28-year veteran of the department was charged with driving while intoxicated and immediately suspended without pay, said Morrill, adding that Kallert’s service weapon was seized. Further investigation revealed Kallert had apparently discharged the weapon while he was in the vehicle, prior to the arrival of the officers, Morrill said. No one was injured.
The officers also saw that the East District detective was in an unmarked Jersey City police vehicle that he did not have authorization to use after work hours, Morrill said.
The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office is handling the criminal investigation and city officials are pursuing all possible charges, including termination, in light of the unauthorized use of the city vehicle, Morrill said.
Kallert was arrested, processed, and issued a summons to appear at the Jersey City Municipal Court on July 9 at 9 a.m. before being released, Morrill said.
Kallert could not be reached for comment.
"We are also hiring a new public safety director to not only address the public safety issue within our city, but to also implement a new code of conduct to change practices throughout the city," Fulop added. "What was acceptable before will no longer be tolerated.
My expectation is that police and city employees will be role models both on and off duty. This situation is not acceptable and will be dealt with aggressively and fairly."
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Chicago, Illinois (Garry Francis McCarthy)
Young guns: CPD exam age dropping to 18
BY FRANK MAIN AND FRAN SPIELMAN — Friday, July 5th, 2013 ‘The Chicago Sun-Times’ / Chicago, IL
Eighteen-year-olds will be able to take the Chicago Police Department exam under a change designed to increase the pool of eligible applicants and boost diversity, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
In 2010, then-Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis raised the application age from 21 to 25 to attract a more mature crop of officers.
But Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy has decided to drop the application age to 18 and set the age to become an officer at 21 — the minimum hiring age in other major cities, like New York and Los Angeles. Applicants can take the police exam in New York at age 17 ½ and at 20 ½ in Los Angeles.
“By offering the exam at 18 and letting them enter at 21, it allows us to reach people as they are making major decisions about their career path,” said Adam Collins, a Chicago Police Department spokesman. “It allows us to increase the pool of eligible applicants.”
The new age requirements would apply to the next exam, which will be held later this year. The department hasn’t set a date or location for the test and still must select the administrator. The last test was in 2010.
Michael Shields, president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, supports the changes.
“We believe that the department loses many motivated, qualified candidates who graduate from college at age 21 or 22 and do not want to wait three or four years to start their career,” Shields said of the age 25 requirement.
In 2010, one Western Illinois University graduate protested the age 25 requirement by creating a Facebook page called “The Chicago Police Minimum Testing Age Will Destroy My Career.”
“When the minimum age was increased to 25, we opposed it,” Shields said. “We are happy the department has decided to right its mistake.”
But Weis said the age 25 requirement didn’t prevent the department from finding enough qualified applicants for the last test.
“Nearly 9,000 people tested and more than 8,000 passed,” Weis said. “To me, it’s about maturity.”
Weis suggested the department hold annual tests instead of giving one test every several years.
“If someone misses the test, they have to wait years for another one,” he said. “I’d try to improve this by offering a yearly test — and a real test that does not have a 93 percent pass rate. What type of screening process is that?”
Since Mayor Rahm Emanuel took office in early 2011, 429 officers have graduated from the police academy during seven ceremonies. Emanuel says he is trying to keep pace with attrition from retirements.
The department’s new age requirements are among a series of changes McCarthy has made since taking over from Weis after Emanuel was elected. Among the changes, McCarthy disbanded the roving citywide strike forces that were a cornerstone of Weis’ violence-control strategy. McCarthy is focusing on fighting crime at the district level.
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Homeland Security
Cyber security at U.S. ports is insufficient, study says
By Ken Dilanian — Friday, July 5th, 2013 ‘The McClatchy-Tribune Newspapers’
America’s largest commercial ports have failed to shore up defenses against potential cyberattacks, a new study contends, raising concerns about the vulnerability of computer networks that help move energy, foodstuff and other goods to market.
Coast Guard Cmdr. Joseph Kramek, who spent a year as a fellow at the Brookings Institution, examined some of the nation’s most heavily used ports: Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif.; Baltimore; Houston and Beaumont, Texas; and Vicksburg, Miss., on the Mississippi River.
“The research shows that the level of cybersecurity awareness and culture in U.S. port facilities is relatively low,” Kramek wrote.
Potential attackers “could be someone trying to cause mischief, a criminal gang or, the worst case, a nation-state actor,” Kramek said.
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — the country’s largest and second largest, respectively — have taken some defensive steps.
Los Angeles used a $1.6 million grant to protect its computer networks from hackers, and Long Beach spent $35 million to build a secure communications infrastructure.
But neither has done all it should, Kramek wrote.
The Port of Los Angeles leases “27 terminals, warehouses and facilities to more than 300 private entities, and it has little visibility on the security of the networked systems that ensure the uninterrupted flow of the more than 8 million containers it handles each year,” the study says.
“The largest port in the U.S. has not conducted a cybersecurity vulnerability assessment, nor does it have a cyber-incident response plan,” Kramek wrote.
A vulnerability assessment is underway, said John Holmes, a former Coast Guard officer who is deputy director for operations at the Port of Los Angeles. He called Kramek’s conclusions “relatively accurate” and said authorities take cyberthreats seriously.
The Port of Long Beach has no written cybersecurity directive or response plan, the study says. But port officials disputed some of the study’s claims and conclusions.
“We have the latest cybersecurity technologies,” Port of Long Beach spokesman Art Wong wrote in an email. “We patch all of our systems on a regular basis. We continuously train our users on cybersecurity best practices.”
At the Maryland Port Administration, which runs the Port of Baltimore, “the cybersecurity culture is not high,” the study says.
Officials disputed that assessment. “In a nutshell, we feel this is a very misleading report,” said Richard Scher, spokesman for the Port of Baltimore.
A disruption at a major U.S. port could quickly affect the economy, Kramek warned.
The flow of commerce “would grind to a halt in a matter of days; shelves at grocery stores and gas tanks at service stations would run empty.” A halt in “energy supplies would likely send not just a ripple but a shock wave through the U.S. and even global economy.”
Kramek urged Congress to put the Coast Guard in charge of enforcing cybersecurity standards for ports, and said the Department of Homeland Security should steer more money to enhance the ports’ cybersecurity.
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Feds say drones on border won't be weaponized
By Perla Trevizo — Friday, July 5th, 2013 ‘The Arizona Daily Star’ / Tucson, Ariz.
Border drones will not be armed with "non-lethal" devices, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday, a day after a report came out showing that the devices had been considered.
The nonprofit watchdog group Electronic Frontier Foundation used a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to obtain CBP documents in which outfitting the drones was included.
"CBP needs to assure the public that it will not equip its Predators with any weapons -- lethal or otherwise," the foundation wrote in a blog post. "Without first addressing these issues, the agency -- and Congress -- should halt the expansion of CBP's Predator drone program."
The San Francisco-based foundation sued CBP to get a 2010 "Concept of Operations" report about the Predator program, three years of flight logs and other records.
In the report, CBP officials say "additional payload upgrades could include expendables or non-lethal weapons designed to immobilize" targets of interest."
CBP said in a written statement Wednesday that it has no plans to arm the unmanned aircraft systems "with non-lethal weapons or weapons of any kind."
The agency operates 10 drones, four of which are based in Arizona. The original plan called for purchasing 24, but Randolph Alles, assistant commander of the Office of Air and Marine, which supervises the drones, said recently he didn't have money to buy more and even if he did, he doesn't have enough money to operate them all.
The agency spends $32 million to $34 million a year to operate and maintain the 10 aircraft. That includes expenses related to ground-control stations, repairs, satellite communication and engineering support. The total cost of the program has been estimated at several hundred million dollars.
The Senate's comprehensive immigration reform bill now in the House calls for adding four unmanned aircraft to secure the border.
The flight logs also show CBP has increased the number of missions the drones have flown on behalf of other entities from 30 times in 2010 to more than 250 times in 2012.
CBP officials had said "on rare occasions, (drones) are deployed in support of local law enforcement to disaster sites to provide emergency assistance and to assist in locating persons and assessing damage."
About 95 percent of the aircraft's missions are border-related, Alles says, but they have been used during natural disasters such as flooding in the North Dakota area and hurricanes "to see what the situation on the ground looks like."
The foundation learned the unmanned aircraft have also been used to conduct surveillance for law-enforcement agencies including the FBI, the U.S. Marshals and the Texas Department of Public Safety. The missions, according to the group's blog, ranged from specific drug-related investigations to searches of missing persons and fishing violations.
The use of drones has also brought out privacy concerns.
While the goal of some missions may be to gather useful environmental information, "the drones necessarily also collect information on the people living within those areas -- and we've seen no policies describing limitations on how the information is used or whether it's shared with law-enforcement agencies like the FBI or ICE," the foundation wrote on its website.
CBP has said the imagery captured by the agency's aircraft, manned or drones, is stored and protected with "the standard controls in place for law-enforcement-sensitive information, and access is restricted to approved CBP personnel with an official need to know in a law-enforcement capacity."
Existing statutes and regulations are designed to protect civil rights and liberties, CBP officials said.
The most commonly used drone, the Predator B, can fly about 20 hours without having to refuel, compared with a helicopter's average flight time of just over two hours. With new technology, Alles said the agency is getting more use out of the aircraft than before.
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Obama's new limo to have heavy armor, blood bank, night vision
By Unnamed Author(s) — Thursday, July 4th, 2013; 3:19 p.m. ‘NBC News’
(NBC) - President Barack Obama is looking for a new ride.
Not that his current limousine – dubbed "The Beast" or "Cadillac One" – isn't faring well, but it's a 2009 model, which he takes wherever he travels, and the Department of Homeland Security says it's time for an upgrade.
Designed to look like a 2008 Cadillac DTS, The Beast is a hybrid that reportedly blends Caddy components with the guts of a Chevrolet Kodiak commercial truck – but with heavy armor. Such heavy armor that the car reportedly weighs 7.5 tons.
The armor includes 8-inch plates capable of stopping an improvised explosive device, or IED, and 5-inch multi-layer windows that make the doors as heavy as those on a 757 jet. The car is sealed against biochemical attacks.
Although details of the presidential limo are classified for security reasons, various reports say that it features James Bond-style options, including a night vision system. It also carries communications gear and, in the trunk, a blood bank matching the president's type.
Special loops replace door handles, which allow Secret Service agents to hold on when running alongside the car. Goodyear run-flat tires fit into extra-large wheel wells.
Secret Service agents who have specialized training in evasive driving techniques, including a J-turn, pilot the vehicle. The J-turn, taught at the Secret Service training facility outside Washington, D.C., can turn the limo 180 degrees in matter of seconds to escape trouble. (The J-turn is also known as the "moonshiner's turn," based on a signature bootlegger driving maneuver.)
As for which car maker will land the contract, that's a secret. Ford, Chrysler and GM have alternated as limo providers since 1939.
"We at Cadillac consider it a great honor and responsibility to carry on the tradition of presidential cars," Cadillac spokesman David Caldwell told Motor Trend. "There's absolutely nothing we would say directly about the future. The Presidential Limousine is built to an exacting set of specifications – and one of the specifications is that we not discuss inner workings of the project."
The new limo promises to be even sturdier than The Beast. According to FedBizOpps.gov, work on the New Design Armored Limousine "will include concept development, armor design, initial automotive component selection and chassis development, material testing, armor system modeling and simulation, and armor system fabrication and testing (live fire)."
Obama's current Cadillac is a significant upgrade – at least from the standpoint of safety and communications capabilities – from cars used by earlier presidents.
William McKinley was the first president to ride in an automobile in November 1899, though Teddy Roosevelt was the first to commission a government-owned car, a white convertible Stanley Steamer. (William Howard Taft, Roosevelt's successor, also opted for a Steamer when he converted the White House stables into a garage.)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt rode in the specially built "Sunshine Special." It was based on a Lincoln K-Series chassis with a V-12 engine. It was aptly named as FDR preferred to ride around with the top down.
Those early limos were convertibles, a favorite for politicians at all levels who knew the value of being seen by their constituents. But that was to change forever on Nov. 22, 1963.
As far back as 1954, a nervous Secret Service had developed a protective bubble-top for President Dwight D. Eisenhower's limousine. There was one available for the Lincoln that his successor, John F. Kennedy, was riding in that fateful afternoon in Dallas, Texas. But Kennedy liked being seen by the public – which made it easier for assassin Lee Harvey Oswald to fire a series of deadly shots from the Texas Book Depository near Dealey Plaza.
That midnight blue 1961 stretch Lincoln Continental was pulled from service, rebuilt and returned to the White House fleet – though it is today on display at the Henry Ford, a suburban Detroit museum. Among the updates available to President Lyndon Johnson was a bulletproof hardtop and additional body armor. The vehicle remained in service through the Nixon Administration.
The cruel realities of the world revealed by the Kennedy assassination changed the design of presidential limos – and for vehicles used by political leaders worldwide.
Problems do occur, however, as when the diesel-powered Beast broke down at Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport after someone mistakenly filled it with the wrong type of fuel. But such incidents are rare – and there was a backup limousine available.
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Mike Bosak
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