The Star-Ledger October 16, 2002
Pentagon's high-tech gear to join sniper hunt
BY ROBERT COHEN
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon agreed yesterday to provide some high-technology assistance to law enforcement officials struggling to capture the sniper who has terrorized the capital area for the past two weeks.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed off on a plan to dispatch multiple surveillance aircraft using sophisticated radar and other high-tech equipment to track moving ground targets and survey large areas.
"We have been asked by the FBI to provide assistance in the hunt for the sniper in the Washington, D.C., area and the secretary agreed to provide air platforms designed to assist in surveillance," said Lt. Comdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
Use of the military in civilian law enforcement activities is generally prohibited by law. But the prohibition has been sidestepped in the war on drugs and could be overcome if proper controls are instituted, legal experts said.
"Every step in this process is being taken to ensure we remain within the limits of all laws," Davis said.
Military officers flew surveillance aircraft accompanied by law enforcement personnel at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, and the military has worked with civilian police along the Mexican border and elsewhere to fight drug traffickers, he said.
And since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the military has stationed soldiers at airports around the country, and Air Force jets have patrolled the skies over New York, Washington and other cities.
"The idea of having law enforcement fly aboard U.S. military aircraft is not without precedent," Davis said.
The plan calls for having military pilots fly reconnaissance flights accompanied by federal agents, who would relay any collected information to civilian authorities.
The aircraft would perform general reconnaissance, such searching for or tracking the light-colored van authorities say has been seen at several of the shooting sites. Pentagon participation also could involve a system of sensors that could detect flashes of gunfire on the ground, officials said.
John Pike, director of Global Security.org, a national security policy group in Virginia, said one possibility could be Navy surveillance aircraft that have long-range cameras. He said the aircraft could be positioned over the Washington, D.C.-metropolitan area and quickly deployed to a particular location when a shooting is reported.
"They could scan an area," Pike said. "They fly a lot higher than police helicopters."
Loren Thompson, a military analyst at the Lexington Institute, a Virginia think tank, said the Air Force and Navy have planes with radar that can be programmed to track specific moving targets. He also said the military has surveillance aircraft with night-vision equipment.
"But you have to know what you are looking for and program in specific signatures," Thompson said. "Saying you want to track Chevy Astro vans may not be enough information. An Astro van may look like an Econoliner or a similar vehicle."
He also said satellites, if positioned correctly, can take pictures of many miles around a murder scene that can be magnified to look for a particular type of vehicle. Pentagon officials played down the possibility of using satellites.
"Any airborne presence over the metropolitan area potentially increases the likelihood of finding the culprit," said Thompson. "But I suspect our best bet here is not more sophisticated technology but simply more manpower."
Since Oct. 2, there have been 11 sniper attacks in the Washington area. Nine people have been killed and two others, including a 13-year-old boy, have been wounded. The latest attack occurred Monday night in Falls Church, Va., when a 47-year-old woman was gunned down outside a Home Depot store.
Copyright 2002 The Star-Ledger
