'We Are Not Ready': Eli Crane Sounds Alarm On Law Enforcement's Ability To Counter Drone Threats

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During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) questioned witnesses about threats posed by new drone technology and law enforcement counter-drone capabilities

Transcript

00:00Thank you, gentlemen. I think that's going to be one of the greatest legislative takeaways of this

00:04hearing is to have those authorities at the state and local level. You're a force multiplier.

00:11Chair recognizes this gentleman from Arizona, Mr. Crane.

00:16Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you guys for coming today. This is a very important topic,

00:21um, examination of major security incidents at mass gatherings. Um, you know, obviously we've got

00:30a bunch of big events coming up in the United States within the next couple of years, the Olympics,

00:35World Cup, our 250th anniversary. And I'm aware that you guys as law enforcement agents, um, you guys

00:44have been dealing with a bunch of threats for a very long time to include vehicle ramming attacks.

00:50IEDs, improvised explosive devices, vehicle-borne IEDs, active shooters, cyber attacks. But the one

00:58that's keeping me up at night is the one that we keep talking about up here. And that's as warfare

01:03has continued to evolve, the drone threat. And I just don't think that we're ready. I've sat in on

01:10a bunch of these hearings. I've had classified hearings with some of our federal agencies. And

01:15what I can tell you is that we are not ready. Um, and I'm gonna do everything that I can to push for

01:21these authorizations that you guys need. But what I can tell you, and I know that you guys are probably

01:26aware of this, the federal government moves very slowly. And right now, this type of authorization,

01:32to my knowledge, has to go through three committees up here. I was interested, Colonel Hodges, in doing some

01:39research and finding out that in Louisiana, you guys just passed in June 2025, the We Will Act Act,

01:48which gives specifically trained state and local officers the authority to intercept and disable

01:54drones that pose a credible threat to public safety. I think that's fantastic. I hope that other states

02:01states follow your your lead. Have you guys had a chance to use any the provisions under that

02:10authorization yet, Colonel? So in conjunction with our federal partners, prior to the passage of the law,

02:16we did it throughout the sugar bowl, Super Bowl and Mardi Gras season. And now that we have the

02:22authorization, not at that moment, we're finalizing our policy and procedures and protocols for statewide

02:29compliance and ensure best practices. But I'm quite certain with the landscape of events that are

02:35coming this fall, that we'll be putting that law to law enforcement benefit. Have you guys had any

02:42pushback from the federal agencies who typically control the airspace and authorities on with this

02:48state passed legislation? No, sir, they've been very supportive. And we have a great working relationship

02:54with the federal partners. And I think that's why we were successful over the last

02:58several months, both in New Orleans, but really across the state. And because we were able to

03:03work with them and use their technology in conjunction with our technology, we feel that we

03:08have a skill set that's ready to hit the ground running as soon as we finalize our policy.

03:13Chief Graves, have you have you talked to your state legislature and governor about passing something

03:21similar? I'm not sure that we have anything in the works of passing something similar, but I will get with

03:26Colonel Hughes to try to get some of that language. Sheriff, how about yourself?

03:34We will be having that conversation in the upcoming legislature.

03:38One of the recommendations that I've made up here is that with FIFA and every sporting event that we

03:45can, we try and make sure it happens in a dome for obvious reasons. I think that will drastically cut

03:50down the threat of drone attacks. But in doing some research, I think out of the 11 different stadiums

03:58that the FIFA World Cup is going to be held in, only four of them are in domes. And I believe

04:02currently you guys have one yourself. Is that correct? Although we're not host, we have a dome,

04:07we're not hosting a FIFA. But as you know, the watch parties and the other outdoor events that coincide

04:12bring a larger sometimes crowd than what's inside the stadium or dome. So the drone is still a challenge,

04:19even though inside like the game itself or the Super Bowl was indoor, everything indoors, the events

04:25throughout the week, as well as things that are associated with, you know, an event of this

04:30magnitude FIFA will need outdoor coverage and TFRs throughout. Colonel, do you know how long it took

04:37to get that piece of legislation passed? Well, Governor Landry has been in just a little

04:42of 18 months. And it was a priority of his to have that done. We we knew right before the believe your

04:51membership tried to get it done prior to 2025, but unsuccessful. But we're very appreciative of the

04:58effort to move forward. I just wanted to add one comment about the drone with the detection and

05:04identification. Commissioner Davis talked about it. But that AI component, that technology, which used to

05:10take days now takes just hours and sometimes minutes to identify who the operator of the drone is, is

05:17equally as important to mitigate or to return the drone or or to take down the drone, because otherwise

05:24they're just going to go get another one and do the same thing. So I believe that's a technology we

05:30should and an investigative tool that we should embrace in conjunction with the counter drone and other

05:35capabilities. Thank you, Colonel.

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