LITTLE ROCK — Dear Otus,
When was it that the Little Rock Police were supposed to start their dang “Big Brother” drone program? I thought it was last fall, but I haven’t read anything.
- Eric Blair Alexander
Dear Eric,
It was wholly a pleasure to hear from you, and not such a pleasure to be the one to break the news.
If you haven’t noticed all the drones already in the air, then that means the Little Rock Police Department’s Sky Patrol Initiative is a success. The department’s super stealthy mini-helicopters have been flying since Sept. 14.
Note, however, that the LRPD takes umbrage at having the innovative hi-tech equipment labeled “Big Brother” with all its dystopian Orwellian baggage and inference of pervasive governmental invasion of privacy. They look upon the devices as powerful tools in the war on crime. I know, because I asked.
LRPD spokesman Sgt. Davis Hastings responded last Wednesday, “At approximately 0945 hours this morning, a female Little Rock Police officer received an e-mail from an unidentified source inquiring as to the feasibility of an official departmental reaction or statement to an alleged reference to the department’s Sky Patrol Initiative that reportedly termed the program a ‘Big Brother’ or words to that effect.
“The department takes exception to any negative connotations in the literary context of the alleged reference. We would request at this time that, for clarity and cohesion, any and all future references by the public or members of the press utilize the department’s official name for the program or it’s acronym SPI.”
And it’s not simply one Big Brother up there. The SPI program has bought 12 Qube observation mini-helicopters from the AeroVironment Co. in Monrovia, Calif.
The 5.5-pound, 3-foot craft carries dual high-resolution electro-optical color and thermal cameras with 26X zoom capability and image stabilization on a lightweight mechanical gimbaled modular payload. It can stay aloft for 40 minutes and has a line-of-sight flight range of 1.21 kilometers (0.75 miles).
Especially helpful is the MSM-2 mini shotgun microphone with bi-directional system to collect sound at a 90-degree angle up to 300 feet.
The quadrilateral chopper has an advanced autopilot that provides robust and precise semi-autonomous flight performance and includes a digital data link module with encryption capabilities for secure police communication to its hand-held computer-based tablet ground control system.
The Qube is classified by the Federal Aviation Administration as a UAS - Unmanned Aircraft System - and operates with four propellers on the vertices for vertical take-o◊and landing and uses four rechargeable Hitachi 24 volt lithium ion batteries in the stanchions.
Virtually noiseless, the rapidly deployable Qube can linger at 100 feet and read the mileage on your odometer.
That’s sort of what Qube has been used for since the fleet began flying in September. The LRPD’s UAS Division has just graduated its first class of 18 cadets - video gamers all - who have been operating out of the department’s W.W. Williams Northwest Substation on Kanis Road searching for texting and driving scoffaws.
Those videotaped violating the city’s new anti-texting law will be mailed a notification and a timestamped photo of their offense. The first-offense fine is $567 plus court costs. So far, 1,812 violators have been apprehended. That’s good, because one Qube costs $11,000.
If the department had its SPI up and running last year, it wouldn’t have had to waste time infiltrating the Occupy Little Rock outfit. They could have used their mole for better purposes and kept tabs on the tent city from above.
And imagine how a Qube armed with the Raytheon STM (small tactical munition) could have handled the goose overpopulation problem. There wouldn’t be a honker left on any golf course in town.
Until next time, Kalaka reminds you that who controls the past controls the future.
Disclaimer Fayetteville-born Otus the Head Cat’s award-winning column of humorous fabrication appears every Saturday. E-mail: [email protected]
HomeStyle, Pages 34 on 02/23/2013