NJ’s Toms River As increased drone activity continues throughout New Jersey, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed a drone sighting that was deemed suspicious. Residents of Ocean County in Jackson and Toms River have claimed many drone sightings near Joint Base MDL, a federal no-drone zone, as first reported by Shore News Network earlier this week.
Sheriff Michael Mastronard stated, “Our agency has a Drone Unit assigned to review these complaints as we continue to receive reports of low-flying drones over Ocean County.”
Mastronardy did not specify if the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office would use its two technological tools that are prohibited by federal law to stop drones. There is a concern with this technology, even though it might be essential to removing the drones for an investigation. The Sheriff’s Department is prohibited from using or possessing that technology by federal law.
Former Toms River Police Chief Michael Mastronardy has significantly expanded the use of technology in Ocean County’s main law enforcement agency since taking over as sheriff.
Keeping eyes on the ground, eyes in the sky, and eyes on the sky is one way Sheriff Mastronardy keeps people safe.
Mastronardy spoke about the department’s fleet of ariel drones and video surveillance systems during a recent meeting in Jackson Township. These tools, which depend on sophisticated equipment, enable him to monitor everything that occurs in Ocean County, sometimes even before it occurs.
Mastronardy gave an example of how the department combats crime in Ocean County by using surveillance tools, a fleet of drones, social media monitoring systems, and anti-drone technology. According to him, anti-drone technology is now also used by his agency.
Regarding protecting police activities and crime scenes, Mastronardy stated, “We have a system that allows us to take over other people’s drones and send them right back to them.” In one instance, a man’s drone approached our location, so we immediately returned it to him. He was perplexed. He believed his drone was malfunctioning. His drone flew back to him, and our people watched him through binoculars.
Mastronardy said the department now has two units capable of returning drones to their owners or even downing them if needed. He claims that officers are put in danger when drones fly over crime scenes.
“We don’t want anyone to tell the bad guys where we are or give away our positions,” he stated.
According to Mastronardy, his anti-drone technique is the only one used in the US by a non-federal organization east of the Mississippi River.
“They’re really not supposed to be here,” he continued. We now have two, though.
There are currently 16 surveillance drones in the Sheriff’s Department fleet, many of which are equipped with thermal and high-resolution cameras.
Unmanned aircraft equipped with these sensors have proven to be helpful in a variety of situations, including searching for a missing person in a wooded area or over water, fire ground applications, and event situational awareness.
The anti-drone units are helpful in maintaining public safety, according to Mastronardy. He said the department uses the drones to keep ordinary citizens from flying their drones around non-police situations such as events with large crowds.
We had a situation at the beach where somebody s drone fell out of the sky and injured a woman, Mastronardy said. She needed several stitches. It s not just about that; who knows what people can drop from these drones so that we can keep them away. We have one in the south and one in the north now.
When asked today about the legality of a non-federal agency utilizing anti-drone technology, Mastronardy refused to answer questions. According to the FAA, it is illegal for any non-federal agency to operate anti-drone technology. Mastronardy admitted during his presentation that the department has not received any federal authorization to operate anti-drone technology.
In 2020, the Department of Justice issued an advisory to non-federal law enforcement agencies about the legalities and illegalities of using anti-drone technology at the local level.
The Advisory was issued at a time when the commercial demand for UAS detection and mitigation was high, but the authority to use those capabilities is far from clear.
To date, Congress has given limited authority to only four federal Departments Defense, Energy, Justice, and Homeland Security to engage in UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) detection and mitigation activities, notwithstanding certain otherwise potentially applicable federal criminal laws, the DOJ said. The Departments and Agencies issuing the Advisory do not have the authority to approve non-federal public and private use of UAS detection or mitigation capabilities, nor do they conduct legal reviews of commercially available products compliance with those laws.
In addition to drones, Mastronardy routinely deploys compliance control cameras around the county. Many can be found in culturally sensitive areas, such as in neighborhoods with high Orthodox Jewish Populations, at busy intersections in places such as Seaside Heights, and for video surveillance of large gatherings and public events.
The mobile surveillance units are trailer mounted with four directional cameras on a retractable monopole.
Last year, the Sheriff s Department entered into an agreement with CYTTA Corp to employ technology that allows the sheriff and his department to access video feeds from the surveillance trailers, surveillance drones, and other video sources such as traffic cameras, public security cameras from anywhere, even on his phone, while he s sitting at home. That system allows the sheriff to assess real-time video streams during department operations.
Ocean County became the latest adopter of technology used by agencies like the FBI and Homeland Security called IGAN 2.0, Incent Global Area Network.
The county s new IGAN 2.0 ICS integrates any available video and audio streams, drones, body cams, fixed cameras, cell phones, and other cameras in the department s arsenal, enabling real-time situational awareness while providing relevant and detailed actionable intelligence to law enforcement on an ongoing basis.
IGAN provides law enforcement officers with the data they need to make critical, on-scene decisions, Mastronardy said. It will become an indispensable technology that can protect and secure our communities. We look forward to implementing within our department and then connecting all public and private schools, and community organizations, further ensuring the safety and security of Ocean County.
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