Police: 2 arrested after drones fly close to airport
By: Gabe Hauarl
John Bacon
and Thao Nguyen
USA Today
..... Two men were caused of conduction a "hazardous drone operation" too close to Logan International airport in Boston as concerns over airspace safety and national security intensify amid a flurry of reported drone sightings across the Northeast.
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Boston police said in a statement that Robert Duffy, 42, and Jeremy Folcik, 32, face trespassing charges and that additional charges could be added. A third suspect fled in a small boat and was being sought, police said.
..... The incident began around 4:30 PM. Saturday [12/14/2024] when a police officer 'specializing in real-time crime surveillance" detected an unmanned aircraft system operating "dangerously close" to Logan International airport, the statement said. The officer identified the drone's location altitude and flight history, discovering the operators were inside a decommissioned health facility on Long Island, part of the Boston Harbor Islands.
..... Police coordinated with Homeland Security, the Massachusetts State Police, the Joint Terrorism Force, the Federal Miscommunications Commission and Logan Airport Traffic Control. Members of the Boston Police Harbor Patrol Unit were dispatched to Long Island where they located three suspects who fled on foot, police said.
..... "Two of the three individuals were apprehended and identified as Duffy and Folcik," police said, adding that a drone was discovered inside Duffy's backpack.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, has requested that "special detection systems" be deployed in New York and New Jersey after recent drone sightings fueled anxiety among residents in the region.
..... Schumer told reporters Sunday [12/15/2024] that he made the request to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and pushed for Robin Radar Systems, which he said has a better chance of detecting drones because of their "360-degree technology." Schumer's request comes after a series of reported drone sightings in the Northeast over the last month, [11/2024] including ones that caused a New York airport to briefly shut down on Friday. [12/13/2024]
..... "We've seen lots of recent sightings in New York, New Jersey, Long Island, Staten Island. So it's remarkable, with all these sightings over the last while, why do we have more questions than answers?" Schumer said Sunday. [12/15/2024] "If the technology exists for a drone to make it up into the sky, there certainly is the technology that can track the craft with precision."
..... Earlier Sunday, [12/15/2024] Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the federal government was "deploying additional resources" to address the aerial drones.
..... Concerns over drones have become so numerous that one New Jersey lawmaker suggested all drones be grounded until a thought investigation can be completed.
..... Thus far there is no reported evidence that the drone incidents are connected.
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Federal authorities have tried to reassure residents that the objects don;t appear to be operating nefariously, and while some are drones, many reported sightings may not be.
..... Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, USA Today