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FBI Surveillance Flights Latest Manifestation of America’s Police State (Opinion)

The FBI planes can record video of ground activity -- criminal and otherwise -- unrelated to their stated purposes and can identify thousands of people via their cellphones.

Warrantless surveillance from FBI aircraft is yet another mockery of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

More than 100 such FBI flights occurred in the past few weeks over at least 11 states plus the District of Columbia, including parts of Houston, Phoenix, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis and Southern California, reports The Associated Press.

The FBI insists the program "is not secret." Trust us, is the message. Yet the AP traced the aircraft "to at least 13 fake companies." The feds say specific aircraft and their capabilities are protected for operational security purposes; it denies using them for bulk collection activities or mass surveillance.

Never mind that, as the AP reports, the FBI planes can record video of ground activity -- criminal and otherwise -- unrelated to their stated purposes and can identify thousands of people via their cellphones, even if they're not making calls or in public view, by using cell-tower simulators.

The FBI "generally does not obtain warrants to record video from its planes of people moving outside," the AP says. But it is "obtaining court orders to use cell-site simulators" under a new policy.

Nonetheless, these FBI flights are the latest manifestation of America's police state. They breed not only distrust but risk fomenting the kind of lawlessness the feds say such flights are designed to combat.

©2015 The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.