Cattle rustlers no match for Predators

摘要

Military drones are finding a role in civilian life, with armed cattle - rustlers their first target. When police in Nelson County, North Dakota, lost track of some suspects last June, they called in the US Customs and Border Patrol's drone: a Predator-B UAV normally used to hunt illegal immigrants and drug runners with its swathe of cameras and heat sensors. It worked and the rustlers were caught. Police have used the drone many times, much to the dismay of privacy advocate, the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It sees the move as an escalation of invasive airborne surveillance technology. The group has filed a lawsuit demanding the US government reveal how often military drones are being used by police in the US - and on what basis.