Shadowhawk drone will be deployed in January

HOUSTON (CN) - A Texas sheriff plans to launch an unmanned drone in January. The ShadowHawk will not be armed with weapons, but will be equipped with blue flashing lights, a camera and an infrared sensor, according to Montgomery County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel. Montgomery County is north of Houston.

The Montgomery County sheriff purchased the drone with a $300,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security.

The ShadowHawk was made by Conroe, Texas-based Vanguard Defense Industries. Conroe is the seat of Montgomery County, which is immediately north of Houston's Harris County.

The ShadowHawk weighs 50 pounds, is 79 inches long and can fly as high as 8,000 feet. The drone is operated remotely by a laptop computer system, runs off a mixture of oil and gas, and can stay airborne for more than an hour, depending on weather conditions.

Vanguard Defense Industries CEO Michael Buscher said his company manufactures and sells the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to commercial and law-enforcement customers, but most have been sold for military uses.

Vanguard's military UAVs can be equipped with 40-millimeter grenade launchers, and fully- and semi-automatic small arms, according to the company's website.
Though Montgomery County's ShadowHawk will not have weapons, Buscher said Vanguard is developing a system to arm its law enforcement UAVs with nonlethal munitions.

"Despite the press the aircraft has received, the Law Enforcement (LE) version is not what we would deem as a 'weaponized' system," Buscher wrote in an email to Courthouse News Service. "Within the next 60 days our R&D division will complete testing on a less-lethal firing system that can be integrated in the LE variants. This system will include provision of a unit which will be capable of firing 37mm or 40mm less-lethal munitions and not high explosives. These munitions will include tear gas canisters, flares, smoke, flash-bangs, etc."

Buscher directed Courthouse News Service to the website of an Ontario, Canada-based business, Police Ordnance Co., for an idea of what kinds of munitions its law enforcement UAVs will be capable of carrying.

Police Ordnance calls itself "the premier law enforcement products manufacturer and distributor serving the law enforcement professional worldwide."

Through its website, Police Ordnance sells tear gas, bean-bag projectiles, baton and sting-ball projectiles in 37mm and 40mm cartridges, and munitions designed to deliver a "combination payload of flash-bang charge and smoke charge" upon impact.

McDaniel said the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department "would definitely look into what the capabilities are" once Vanguard Defense Industries works out the kinks in its law-enforcement UAVs firing systems.

For now, the sheriff's department will use the ShadowHawk for "mission-specific issues," such as searching for people lost in Sam Houston National Forest, in situations involving hazardous materials, or to provide support for people on the ground fighting a forest fire, McDaniel said.

"The ShadowHawk can see through heavy smoke using its optic system to find hot spots, fire breaks and fire lines. And can help the ground crews figure out where to go," Vanguard CEO Buscher said.

The sheriff's office has been working with Vanguard on the ShadowHawk project for 3 years, after it was approached by Buscher, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Deputy McDaniel told the Chronicle there has not been any major opposition to the drone since the plans were unveiled in late October. But questions about its surveillance capabilities have stirred privacy concerns.

McDaniel told the Chronicle last week: "We're not about spying on the residents of this county. We are about putting criminals in jail and putting a stop to criminal activity. We have better things to do, and spying is not our role."
Buscher told Courthouse News that using the ShadowHawk is "no different from having a manned helicopter."

"They've been using helicopters since the 1940s. So cities and municipalities have been dealing with these issues for decades. You still have to get warrants and follow protocol you would for a manned helicopter. A lot of people don't realize a helicopter can conduct surveillance from high altitudes where you can't see it."
Deputy McDaniel said warrants are not legally required for the ShadowHawk to conduct surveillance.

"Air space is just that. Just as a news helicopter can fly over your house and poke a camera outside your window and record you in your yard, our helicopter can do that. There's no requirement for aerial surveillance," McDaniel said.
As for the ShadowHawk's potential to be equipped with nonlethal munitions, University of Houston professor of criminal procedure Adam Gershowitz said the mere existence of the technology does not raise any red flags.

"I can't think of any U.S. Supreme Court precedent that says you can't do it. I don't think there are any constitutional rules to stop it. I do think it would be a good idea for Montgomery County to put specific guidelines in place as to how it will be used," Gershowitz said.

The sheriff's department is training a two-man team to use the ShadowHawk. McDaniel said the department has had to work around the deputies' schedules to get the training done.

The training program is a "180-hour, FAA-based training program that includes physicals, as anyone who applies for a pilot license has to meet sight and hearing requirements," Buscher said.

ACLU concerned about police drone

THE CHRON:

As the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office gears up to employ an unmanned helicopter to hunt criminals and find missing persons, civil liberties advocates are concerned about the spy in the sky used for policing.

Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel of the sheriff's office said the $300,000 ShadowHawk drone - purchased from Vanguard Defense Industries with federal homeland security grant funds - will take to the air in the coming months to provide another tool in the law enforcement arsenal.

"It's an exciting piece of equipment for us," he said. "We envision a lot of its uses primarily in the realm of public safety - looking at recovery of lost individuals and being able to utilize it for fire issues."

It also could be used, he said, to provide surveillance for officers serving a warrant at a specific location. It would not, however, be used to track suspects' vehicles. McDaniel said that manned helicopters would continue to be used for that purpose.

The unmanned craft will be controlled by a pilot using a laptop with a game-like console, and it comes equipped with a powerful camera and heat-seeking device mounted on the front.

ACLU concerns

In the future, the drone could be equipped to carry nonlethal weapons such as Tasers or a bean-bag gun, McDaniel said.

Kirsten Bokenkamp, spokeswoman for the Houston-based American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said the drones raise concerns because there are not enough safeguards in place to protect citizens from unreasonable search and seizure.

HPD's 2007 tests

"It's just another example of technology that is outstripping our lives," she said. "What we mean by that, is the technology moves so quickly and the interpretations of the Fourth Amendment are failing to keep up with the technology. That brings privacy concerns."

"Further," Bokenkamp said, "the use of drones kind of takes the place of good old-fashioned detective work, and it allows for a more pervasive surveillance than we've been accustomed to or that we know about."

McDaniel disagreed, saying the 50-pound drone is an extension of the aerial resources currently available to law-enforcement agencies - manned helicopters from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Houston Police Department.

League City man faces child pornography charges.

SANTA FE, Texas — A 34-year-old League City man faces child pornography charges after investigators claimed the man downloaded illegal images to his computer, Santa Fe police said.

Santa Fe police Detective Heather Burd, who is a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, tracked a series of child pornography downloads to a League City Internet address.

James Karl Dunivan was arrested at his home in the 1200 block of Halls Bridge in League City on Monday morning.

Bastrop is burning ...

BASTROP

- The most destructive wildfire on record in Texas showed no signs of slowing down Monday, destroying 25,000 acres in Bastrop County and 476 homes, more houses than any single wildfire before and more than all other fires this year combined, according to the Texas Forest Service.

With more than 60 new wildfires raging across the state, Gov. Rick Perry left the campaign trail Monday in South Carolina to address the public and organize requests for more federal aid.

Closer to Houston, a fire in Magnolia burned 20 homes and more than 1,600 acres, and was threatening subdivisions in Montgomery and Grimes counties late Monday. It had moved southwest into Waller County last Monday.

It was one of several fires to hit the area, straining state and local resources as officials focused on the most dangerous blazes. One firefighter was injured and one fire engine burned in blazes in the Magnolia area, said Lt. Dan Norris, spokesman for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities did not yet know how much of the most dangerous fire had been contained Monday, but planned to continue fighting it "as long as necessary," Norris said.

Strong winds and dry conditions fanned the flames and aided the blaze's rapid growth, forcing the evacuation of more than 150 homes. Montgomery County officials were encouraging evacuations from the intersection of FM 1774 and FM 1488, about 42 miles northwest of Houston, up to the Grimes County line, an official said.

Magnolia fire

The Magnolia fire, located off FM 1774 and FM 1488, jumped FM 1488 late Monday and forced further evacuations, although some families were being allowed back to their homes. The Magnolia Independent School District canceled classes today because of the fires. Evacuation shelters were being set up throughout the area, including at Magnolia High School.

Another fire in the area had burned 100 acres and was 80 percent contained, Norris said. It had destroyed one structure and caused no injuries after 50 homes were evacuated.

A fire covering about 100 acres was burning in Oak Ridge North late Monday.

A fire near Nacogdoches that started Sunday night raged to 300 acres Monday and forced 60 families to evacuate their homes, said Ralph Cullom, a spokesman for the Texas Forrest Service. That fires grew with strong gusts of winds and fed off of dry conditions on the ground.

"This drought we're having is just unprecedented," Cullom said.

No injuries have been reported in Bastrop, but two people were reported killed in a North Texas fire Monday. A woman and her 18-month-old child died when a fast-moving fire near Gladewater, east of Dallas, set their mobile home on fire and they were unable to escape.

The Bastrop County Complex Fire, pushed by strong winds and fed by plenty of dry grasses, shrubs and trees, steadily moved south Monday and expanded throughout the day. It jumped the Colorado River twice.

"We will be working days on end," said Mike Fisher, the Bastrop County Emergency Management Coordinator. "The fire is so dynamic we really have no idea where it is."

'Lives at stake'

Perry said the wildfire burning in the central part of the state is "as mean looking" as he's ever seen.

Driest year on record plagues Texas ...

VOA: Weather forecasters and agriculture experts in the southwestern U.S. state of Texas say there is no relief in sight for what already is the worst drought year on record. The searing heat and dry conditions have caused devastating wildfires in the western part of the large state and led to crop losses, cattle deaths and water rationing in areas of east Texas that are normally wet at this time of year.

Driving through the countryside northwest of Houston, one sees dried up fields, dying trees and livestock ponds that are not much more than a puddles of fetid, algae-covered water. In some towns, farmers' markets have been cancelled because local growers have little to offer. Those with wells for irrigation are struggling with the high cost of fuel to run their pumps.

Debbie Cross, who operates a farmers' market near Cypress, Texas, says people are becoming discouraged by the lack of rain and the high temperatures, which are around 40 degrees most days.

“The drought is hurting everything. It is hurting all the crops, the cattle, the hay. There is no grass. The chickens are miserable. I mean everybody is just miserable. We need water,” Cross said.

Cross says local farmers are unable to supply much fruit and vegetables and that she is getting by with produce trucked in from other states where conditions are better.

“We are getting it from the local southern states and southwestern states are kicking in -- Arizona, New Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma. Everybody knows that the Texas market is a great consumer market, so they are helping out a lot here,” Cross said.
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One of the hardest hit agricultural sectors is livestock. Texas is the biggest cattle producer in the United States and ships beef to many foreign markets. Earlier this year, ranchers endured one of the worst winters on record, with several days of subzero temperatures in a region where freezes are rare. The drought has made it even harder, driving up the cost of hay and leaving some areas so dry that cattle have died of thirst in their pastures.

One rancher who has managed to get through this crisis with most of her stock in fairly good condition is Dorie Damuth, owner of the Flying D ranch near Magnolia, Texas.

Damuth raises prize-winning Texas Longhorns for breeding and she has managed to find hay and enough water to keep them alive. She says she has seen dry spells before, but nothing that compares to this year.

“The drought is something I, as a cattle woman, and all of my fellow cattlemen and cattlewomen have never experienced before. This is probably the 100-year drought, just like you can have a 100-year flood. It is very devastating for all of us ranchers who work so hard to provide beef for our country as well as for around the world,” Damuth said.

In a dried up lake on her property, there is a Longhorn skull sitting on top of cracked earth that is muddy and soft underneath.

“We have had lakes and stock ponds on the ranch that have dried up because of no rain, no rainfall. They will dry down to a little mucky place in the middle that is still wet and the cattle will sometimes go down and try to get water and they can't. And they step into that mucky mud and it is kind of like quicksand, and they can't get out.”

Lately, there have been beautiful fluffy clouds floating over the area. But ranch hand Chris Quinters is not encouraged by them.

“Those are some nice clouds, but it don't look like they are going to bring any rain,” Quinters said.

East Montgomery County, Texas gets grant for eye-spy UAV.

The Sheriff’s Office of Montgomery County, Texas was recently awarded a grant by the Department of Homeland Security for a squadron of ShadowHawks. Montgomery County’s Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel is psyched.

“We are very excited about the funding and looking forward to placing the equipment into the field. Both my narcotics and SWAT units have been looking at numerous ways to deploy it and I absolutely believe it will become a critical component on all SWAT callouts and narcotics raids and emergency management operations.”


The Department of Homeland Security grant is just the latest indication that the US is taking the military’s lead – with over 7,000 drones in the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan – and using drones as a key tactical tool.

In 2009 a surveillance drone called the Wasp was used during a SWAT raid in Austin, Texas. The Wasp climbed to 400 feet and beamed realtime video of a house in which an armed drug dealer was hiding. After the team had confirmed that there were no unforeseen dangers lurking in the backyard, they stormed the house and arrested the suspect. Drones are also helping the US to secure its borders against illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Just a few months ago the Obama administration began sending drones to Mexico to gather intelligence and help in the country’s war on drugs.

The ShadowHawk is the seven-foot, 50-lb copter from Texas-based Vanguard Defense Industries. The copter is the result of three years of development.

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Dozen Arabian horses perish in fire ...

by Michelle Homer / KHOU.com

MAGNOLIA, Texas -- As many as 14 Arabian horses were killed Tuesday morning in a stable fire in Magnolia.
The 2-alarm blaze broke out at the Goslin Nix Stables at Superior Road and FM 1488 around 6 a.m.

The flames spread quickly trhough the 5,000 square foot stable and firefighters were unable to rescue 14 horses.
Neighbors and fire crews entered the burning building to open some interior stalls and free the others.

Some of the 14 surviving horses suffered burns and smoke inhalation and are being treated by a veterinarian. Most appeared to be unharmed as they grazed in a nearby pasture.

Each horse is valued between $60,000 and $100,000, according to the Montgomery County fire marshal.

The huge stable that housed them was gutted.

Firefighters from Montgomery County, Magnolia, The Woodlands and Needham volunteer fire departments battled the blaze.

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