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posted by Woods on Thursday June 05 2014, @03:52PM   Printer-friendly
from the you-could-put-an-eye-out-with-that-thing dept.

The FBI has announced that they are expanding their campaign nationwide aimed at deterring people from pointing lasers at aircraft-by rewarding those who provide information about individuals who engage in this dangerous crime and aggressively prosecuting the perpetrators. A key part of the publicity campaign is reward money. The FBI will offer up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of any individual who intentionally aims a laser at an aircraft. "We want to encourage people to come forward when they see someone committing this crime, which could have terrible consequences for pilots and their passengers," says George Johnson.

Since the FBI and the FAA began tracking laser strikes in 2005, there has been more than a 1,100 percent increase in the number of incidents with these devices, which can be purchased in stores or online for as little as a few dollars. Last year, 3,960 laser strikes against aircraft were reported. It is estimated that thousands of attacks go unreported every year. In March a 26-year-old California man was sentenced to 14 years in prison for aiming a laser pointer at a police helicopter and a hospital emergency transport helicopter. The man and his girlfriend were using a device that was 13 times more powerful than the permissible power emission level for handheld lasers. The girlfriend was also convicted and recently sentenced to a two-year prison term.

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:17PM

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Thursday June 05 2014, @04:17PM (#51771)

    To make it really profitable, you have to find some way of duping people into shining laser pointers at aircraft, so that you can then collect $10k each for reporting them.

    This makes me with I had a super-power: mind control. I could have a lot of fun with this. I'd get a video camera, and use my mind-control power to make the executives of Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, Best Buy, GoDaddy, Microsoft, Apple, and GM shine laser pointers at aircraft while I record them for evidence. I could do the same with many politicians, including my state governor, infamous for BridgeGate. Then I could not only profit handsomely, but society would be bettered by having these people imprisoned.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 07 2014, @03:13AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 07 2014, @03:13AM (#52506)

    Ooh! Sony and Comcast! PLEASE don't forget them!