Chuck Grassley Questions Witness About Growing Threat Of Drone-Delivered Contraband

Forbes Breaking News

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) questioned Ricky D. Dixon, President of the American Correctional Association, about drone-delivered contraband.

Transcript

00:00In finance committee, so I hope somebody on my side of the aisle will take over while I'm gone.

00:21Captain Wilson, in your testimony you mentioned an incident in which Texas state law enforcement

00:29drone was actually mitigated by a Mexican cartel members.

00:34Can you please elaborate on the challenge that you face from cartel drones and speak

00:39to the safety of the risk of your department faces by not being able to employ the same

00:47technology that cartels have started to use against U.S. law enforcement?

00:55Push your button.

01:00That would help, wouldn't it?

01:02Mr. Chairman, in 2019 they started the ground surveillance.

01:08They would follow us for an hour and a half, two hours back to our hotels from where we

01:12were working on the border.

01:16People are sitting in a tree or sitting on a fence line.

01:21All they're there for is to scout for us, for law enforcement, for federal, state, local

01:25law enforcement.

01:28UAS has increased significantly since then to now where they're, like I mentioned earlier,

01:36they're trying to crash drones into our drones.

01:38They're hovering over our helicopters at 1,500, 1,600 feet, clearly above 400 feet and presenting

01:48a clear danger to any manned aviation in that area.

01:55In last month we were mitigated by the cartels.

01:59We were, we had, we're in conversation or in communication with the U.S. border patrol.

02:06They had asked us to see if we could, they had a detection over in Mexico and were asked

02:13to see if we could find the pilot for that drone.

02:17After a little bit of time we were able to locate that pilot and follow him.

02:24There was communication with Mexico to try to get the government there to respond and as

02:33they were responding and before they got into the area the criminal drone came down and departed

02:39the area.

02:40We continued to stay with the pilot and his co-pilot, if you will, to eventually our drone

02:50lost connection and was mitigated by the cartel as we found out later and crashed about 1,000

02:57feet away from where the mitigation took place.

03:01Thank you for that.

03:04Sergeant Dooley, you and your office provide support for federal law enforcement at mass gatherings

03:10and during protective operations.

03:13I'd like to have you elaborate on your role providing this support and explain how enhanced

03:18counter UAS authorities would better enable you to support federal partners.

03:23Yeah, so that's a huge request we get.

03:26A lot of our federal and state partners know that we have the ability to do that.

03:29In most cases our federal partners are, their equipment is much more sophisticated than what

03:33we're allowed to use, but it is of still use.

03:37That's the number one question I get when they ask for our help.

03:40When we're using our equipment to help them in their detection, is can we mitigate?

03:45And of course my response is no, we can't do that.

03:49They have a desperate need, I think, for a force multiplier and a support from the state.

03:54When we especially have our federal partners who rotate in and out from certain details and

03:58come to Florida, they're not the same people normally over and over again.

04:02So when they come down and they are not terribly familiar and we educate them on what our capabilities

04:07are and how we're supporting them already, again, over and over again, can you help us

04:11mitigate?

04:12No, we cannot.

04:14Our technology is passive.

04:16We use radars, cameras, remote ID, et cetera.

04:19We don't get into hacking and RF and all those things.

04:23But again, it still helps.

04:24It's just not on the level that they can perform those same duties.

04:27But it is a huge request that we get for those capabilities.

04:31And on top of that, I will get phone calls from our federal partners as well when they

04:34do have a request, because most of the requests that our federal partners get can't be fulfilled.

04:39They don't have enough resources and equipment, et cetera, to cover all the requests.

04:44And they'll call me, and again, I can't perform some of the same duties that they can.

04:49So in some cases, it is of no use, because what they need specifically is the mitigation

04:54or the ability to detect on a higher level than what we're able to provide.

04:58Mr. Dixon, in your testimony, you mentioned the dangers that drone delivered contraband

05:04like weapons and cell phones present to prisons.

05:09Can you elaborate on the threat of contraband cell phones to prison security?

05:14Sure, Mr. Chair, cell phones and drones combined are a few of the most critical security threats

05:21we have right now.

05:22The irony in this is cell phones or drones deliver cell phones, and the various cell phones

05:27that are delivered are what is used to coordinate additional drone deliveries.

05:33Everything bad that happens in a prison usually starts with a conversation.

05:37So if we intercept or prevent the cell phones that are delivered by drones, we reduce a significant

05:44amount of the violence.

05:45As I mentioned in my testimony, cell phones are used to extort families, to maintain criminal

05:53networks on the street.

05:55As I mentioned, prisons in some cases are command centers for drug cartels because they continue

05:59their criminal enterprises.

06:01If we eliminate cell phones and drive the communication back to our state systems, we have sophisticated

06:08tools to monitor those systems, whether it be on our tablets or our institutional phone

06:13systems.

06:14But when they circumvent that through cell phones that drones deliver, it's one of the major issues

06:20we have to combat.

06:23Thanks, Mr. Chairman.

06:24Let me apologize.

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