Cut off these Wasters - Border agency overextended on drone program

This is a clasic example of both over reaching and waste by the government!

Border agency overextended on drone program - Washington Times
by Stephen Dinan 6-11-12

The Homeland Security Department ordered so many drones it can't keep them all flying and doesn't have a good plan for how to use them, according to a new audit that the department's inspector general released Monday.

In a blunt assessment, investigators said Customs and Border Protection's Office of Air and Marine has a fleet of nine "unmanned aircraft systems" and is awaiting a 10th — though it doesn't have enough ground support and doesn't have a good plan for prioritizing missions.

"CBP procured unmanned aircraft before implementing adequate plans," the investigators said.

...

"Despite the current underutilization of unmanned aircraft, CBP received two additional aircraft in late 2011 and was awaiting delivery of a tenth aircraft in 2012," the inspector general said.

Since fiscal year 2004, when CBP conducted its first pilot study of using drones, the federal government has spent $240.6 million on the program, with each Predator B drone costing about $14 million.

CBP has flown missions for the Texas Rangers, the U.S. Forest Service, the FBI and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — the latter of which wanted video of dams, bridges and levees where flooding was occurring.

-more at link-