Pocket Sized Surveillance Drone Company Acquired

An article from Recode:

The leading maker of thermal imaging sensors, Flir, bought a Norwegian drone maker for $134 million, the company announced Wednesday.

Flir acquired Prox Dynamics, which makes the Black Hornet, a tiny nano-drone used by the military and law enforcement for surveillance and reconnaissance. The drone is deployed by throwing it in the air and is small enough to fit in a soldier’s pocket. Despite its compact frame, the Black Hornet carries three cameras.

 

The palm-sized aircraft is used by the U.S. Marines, the British Army, the Australian Army and Norway’s Armed Forces.

These drones can easily fit in the palm of your hand.

President-elect Donald Trump wants to resume law enforcement access to military equipment, so Flir acquired Black Hornet at an opportune time, when its client base in the U.S. may soon swell.

They're not cheap. I can see a new law enforcement grant initiative whereby federal tax dollars will be used to purchase these devices. The Black Hornet drone and all the equipment necessary to operate it costs $1950,000. Few small or even medium sized police agencies can afford that price tag.

If these drones become common place there might be an ancillary business boom for residential swimming pool domes . Swarms of miniature drones, cheap civilian models and otherwise, could infest skinny dipping sites. It could resemble a bee migration.

And what would you call a swarm of surveillance drones?

There's a bevy of quail, a dole of doves, a siege of herons, a gaggle of geese and a raft of ducks.

A dollop of drones?  

NYPD Upgrades Their Armor, Weapons

Soft body armor is not bullet proof, it is bullet resistant. Since about 1980 cops in NYS are issued body armor through a grant provided through the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) who reimburses the agency for a predetermined amount. The agency can upgrade the armor but will only receive whatever the state allows for basic armor protection. I used to administer this program for my department and measure rookies for body armor before I retired so it's been awhile.

Wearing soft body armor can be very uncomfortable, especially in hot weather. You sweat like crazy under a 3/4" of Kevlar and if the vest is not fitted properly, it rides up on your gun belt and sits under your chin when you sit down in a squad car.

Depending on who has the state contract, cops are generally issued Threat Level II or IIA body armor; IIA armor has a removable plate covering the heart area. Level II will stop .38, .357, 9 mm and shotgun slugs but not Teflon coated bullets ...  or a knife blade. The armor will also help pad blows from a blunt instrument attack and have  proven useful in protecting an officer involved in a traffic accident. To stop a rifle shot you need at least a Level III vest. These are very bulky and heavy.

From ABC News:

At a time when the New York Police Department is encouraging beat cops to be more approachable to law-abiding citizens, it's also equipping them to do combat with rampaging shooters.

The mass shootings in Orlando, Dallas and elsewhere have prompted the nation's largest police department to accelerate a $7.5 million program to distribute heavy-duty body armor to uniformed patrol officers who might have to respond.

Some 20,000 helmets are set to be distributed by the end of the year. And the department's 3,000 patrol cars will begin carrying pairs of heavy-duty vests that officers will put on if dispatched to a report of an active shooter.

[...]The new gear reinforces an approach adopted by the NYPD and some other departments around the country that calls on first-responding officers to confront shooters immediately, rather than establish a perimeter and wait for specially trained tactical units to arrive. In addition, the NYPD is giving officers special training on how to deal with multiple shooters.

The response comes amid concerns from civil libertarians and others that ordinary beat cops are becoming too militarized. But police officials see the measures as necessary to protect their officers and save civilian lives in deadly encounters that unfold quickly and demand a swift response.

Decades ago (feels funny saying that) we were trained and operated under a much less militaristic environment. I am not a real big fan of the current mindset. The new cops are into the "us vs. them" mentality which is not helpful. Police officers shouldn't be an occupying force, we are not equipped for that; but the New Black Panthers and BLM are forcing cops to behave as if they were.

Unless absolutely necessary I really don't want to see armored vehicles with "POLICE" emblazoned on the sides running through the streets.

Sponge Cop Nerf Grants

The Sponge Gun (issued to police in NZ)

Not to be confused with the splooge gun which is a LGBT party favor.

The sponge gun is actually not a bad idea, but I wonder why they want to use super Nerf guns instead of Tasers. I would have loved to use a taser but they were only approved 5 or 6 years after I retired. We used chemical mace that would affect me almost as bad as the guy I squirted. We had several cops who were allergic to the stuff and had to be taken to the hospital ASAP if they were accidentally sprayed during an altercation. I don't believe the pepper spray now used presents the same problem.

Some Dallas police officers will soon be toting “sponge guns,” weapons aimed at reducing the chances of a deadly officer-involved shooting.

Police booster group Safer Dallas Better Dallas announced Thursday that it plans to raise $250,000 to help pay for more than 100 launchers that shoot sponge pellets. The “less lethal” weapons are meant to disarm and incapacitate someone from up to 100 feet away, police officials said.

Being hit with one of the sponge-tipped bullets is much like being pinged with a baseball or hockey puck. The guns are designed to cause enough pain on impact to force a person to drop a weapon or to the ground without breaking the skin, making it safer for police officers to approach.

“If they get hit in a soft spot, they go down,” said Deputy Chief Jeff Cotner, who oversees the police academy.

This worries me a bit. How accurate are these things? Obviously it's not a true Nerf gun and the projectile is more robust and has the same approximate velocity as a paintball (they hurt), so please define those "soft spots" that don't include genitalia.

The launchers, which will be bright yellow, would be dispersed among patrol officers throughout the city to help respond to incidents involving volatile or mentally ill people. The yellow coloring shows other officers and people in the community that police are trying to use less-lethal force.

I can see cops shooting each other in the ass for giggles, a lot of that.

Safariland makes a 40mm cartridge and the launcher for police use .... good grief, take a look at this Airsoft 40mm BB shower grenade. This is for adult play? Whaaaaa?