A New Jersey sheriff told Newsmax that his department has been sending up drone patrols to learn more about the ongoing sightings that have been reported at locations in his state.
"We have numerous calls," Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy told Newsmax's "Sunday Report." "We have to try to deconflict and see which are legitimate calls. And that's what our drone program does."
The county has had a "very robust drone program" for the past eight years, and officers started patrols over a week ago in response to the growing number of sightings.
"The officers assigned their pilots, and we have two drone vehicles," said Mastronardy. "We tried to dispatch them along with a CSI detective who has special lenses on cameras to document. So our role here is trying to document what is being reported to us so we can forward this up to our state and federal partners."
Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC News' "This Week" Sunday that federal authorities would like state and local authorities to have the ability to counter drone activity under federal supervision.
Mastronardy said that he's on the executive board of the National Sheriffs Association, which has pushed for some time for amendments that will allow local law enforcement to take action.
"We want certified drone programs to be able to mitigate and assist in this," he said. "The locals, whether it be the local police department or the local sheriff's office, will be there a lot sooner than anybody else."
However, laws have not kept up with technology, so "we need to have a reset button on that," the sheriff said.
He also warned against civilians trying to take matters into their own hands with the drones, as it's "against the law to do that."
But Mastronardy said it's important that the federal government do something about the issue.
"There is a lot of dialogue going on in reference to the southern border and the Canadian border," he said. "The East Coast and West Coast have a border also. So please don't neglect us. We have to make sure that our border is secure."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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