• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Subscribe to the Magazine
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Featured
    • K-9 lifesaver
      Cop Hobbies: Geocaching
      From cop to dad
      Getting some shut-eye
      Police technology: Why so far behind?
  • Topics
    • On the Job
      • The gatekeepers of school safety
        Reality bites
        Over two decades of catching online predators
        Party bus bust
        If you’re not telling your story on social media, who is?
    • Labor
      • NYPD disciplinary records made public
        Raising the bar
        Retirements up, recruiting down
        Maryland considers repealing officers’ bill of rights
        The fight for diversity
    • Tech
      • Data-driven investigations
        Police technology: Why so far behind?
        Charlotte-Mecklenburg police use key technology to battle crime wave
        Denver police gun detection technology pays off
        Reliable sources
    • Training
      • LPVO: The Goldilocks of AR optics
        Chicago PD introduces real-life situation training
        Reset in recoil: Working with your gun, not against it
        K-9 lifesaver
        South Carolina technical colleges looking to offer law enforcement...
    • Policy
      • Minneapolis decides to “refund” police following crime increase
        NYPD disciplinary records made public
        Pennsylvania top court decides on warrantless vehicle searches
        Capitol confusion
        Biden executive order bans police access to high-tech military...
    • Health/Wellness
      • Capitol riot suicides shine light on police mental health struggles
        So much for those New Year’s resolutions, eh?
        Save jobs and lives
        Everyday work trauma and your brain
        Getting some shut-eye
    • Community
      • Life-changing gifts
        Honoring Nashville’s heroes
        From cop to dad
        South Carolina technical colleges looking to offer law enforcement...
        Record carjackings across the country
    • Humor
      • The force is strong with this one
        Dude, where’s my car?
        Dressed to impress
        How to retire angry
        Ousted police chief makes his departure brief — literally
    • We Remember
      • Slain Capitol Police officer honored
        A thread of courage and love
        COVID-19 “very likely” to kill more cops than 9/11
        Always honored, never forgotten
        More space needed at National Memorial
  • On the Job
    • The gatekeepers of school safety
      Reality bites
      Over two decades of catching online predators
      Party bus bust
      If you’re not telling your story on social media, who is?
  • Labor
    • NYPD disciplinary records made public
      Raising the bar
      Retirements up, recruiting down
      Maryland considers repealing officers’ bill of rights
      The fight for diversity
  • Tech
    • Data-driven investigations
      Police technology: Why so far behind?
      Charlotte-Mecklenburg police use key technology to battle crime wave
      Denver police gun detection technology pays off
      Reliable sources
  • Training
    • LPVO: The Goldilocks of AR optics
      Chicago PD introduces real-life situation training
      Reset in recoil: Working with your gun, not against it
      K-9 lifesaver
      South Carolina technical colleges looking to offer law enforcement...
  • Policy
    • Minneapolis decides to “refund” police following crime increase
      NYPD disciplinary records made public
      Pennsylvania top court decides on warrantless vehicle searches
      Capitol confusion
      Biden executive order bans police access to high-tech military...
  • Health/Wellness
    • Capitol riot suicides shine light on police mental health struggles
      So much for those New Year’s resolutions, eh?
      Save jobs and lives
      Everyday work trauma and your brain
      Getting some shut-eye
  • Community
    • Life-changing gifts
      Honoring Nashville’s heroes
      From cop to dad
      South Carolina technical colleges looking to offer law enforcement...
      Record carjackings across the country
  • Humor
    • The force is strong with this one
      Dude, where’s my car?
      Dressed to impress
      How to retire angry
      Ousted police chief makes his departure brief — literally
  • We Remember
    • Slain Capitol Police officer honored
      A thread of courage and love
      COVID-19 “very likely” to kill more cops than 9/11
      Always honored, never forgotten
      More space needed at National Memorial
  • Jobs and Careers
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Search

Tech

Mysterious drone swarms baffle law enforcement

Multiple agencies investigate unidentified UAVs

Published February 12, 2020 @ 1:36 pm PST

iStock.com/Maxiphoto

After dozens of reports of drone squadrons flying in grid formations over rural areas of northeast Colorado and western Nebraska since November, state, federal and county officials joined forces to investigate. Although drones aren’t required to file flight plans, the apparent patterns and geographic coverage sparked enough interest for authorities to look into who was responsible and for what purpose.

Shortly after the new year, approximately 75 people from the Federal Aviation Administration, FBI, U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, U.S. Army, Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, plus representatives from multiple law enforcement agencies, gathered to share information about the unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Various government agencies and drone companies already denied responsibility for the drone activity, including the U.S. Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency and University of Colorado Boulder.

“The FAA appears to be baffled by the sightings also, stating unless a drone operator is identified, they have no recourse planned as of now,” said Yuma County Sheriff Todd Combs in a statement, reported by The Denver Post.

A task force formed at that meeting and initially focused on the possibility of a mobile command center directing the drones.

“That’s something we can handle,” Lincoln County Sheriff’s Captain Michael Yowell told the newspaper. “That’s something on the ground. A drone 500 feet in the air? We can’t do much about that. A suspicious vehicle in the middle of a county road is something we absolutely can.”

By mid-January, however, the majority of sightings were identified as planets, stars or hobby drones. Another handful were attributed to known commercial unmanned aircraft, and a few incidents remain unidentified. Furthermore, the Colorado Department of Public Safety said in a statement that they couldn’t confirm any illegal or suspicious drone activity. At that point, the department, which led the multi-agency investigation, stated it was curtailing the drone search due to lack of evidence.

“While I can’t conclusively say we have solved the mystery, we have been able to rule out a lot of the activity that was causing concern,” Stan Hilkey, Colorado Department of Public Safety executive director, said in the statement. “We will continue to remain vigilant and respond as new information comes in.”

As seen in the February 2020 issue of American Police Beat magazine.
Don’t miss out on another issue today! Click below:

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Categories: Tech

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • The gatekeepers of school safety
  • Capitol riot suicides shine light on police mental health struggles
  • Minneapolis decides to “refund” police following crime increase
  • Reality bites
  • Over two decades of catching online predators
  • Party bus bust
  • If you’re not telling your story on social media, who is?
  • Virtual currency investigations
  • So much for those New Year’s resolutions, eh?
  • Save jobs and lives
Advertise with APB

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Categories

  • Featured
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Humor
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers

Editor’s Picks

Ass-kissing, favoritism, oh my!

Ass-kissing, favoritism, oh my!

January 28, 2021

This K-9 is a gym rat at heart!

This K-9 is a gym rat at heart!

January 25, 2021

A thread of courage and love

A thread of courage and love

January 20, 2021

The job doesn’t love you back

The job doesn’t love you back

December 28, 2020

Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2021 American Police Beat, Inc. | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close
Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.