http://sun.yumasun.com/artman/publish/a ... _20550.php

Yuma Patriots gets air support

BY JEFFREY GAUTREAUX, Sun Staff Writer
Nov 18, 2005, 9:39 pm

The Yuma Patriots, a local border watch group, will have high-tech eyes in the sky during patrols this weekend.

Glenn Spencer, the founder of American Border Patrol, a nonprofit corporation based in Hereford, will be flying his specialized surveillance plane along the Mexican border near Yuma.

Spencer has been involved with ABP, the Minuteman Project and other border watch programs in the Southwest for the past 14 years. "We show how technology can be used and point out weaknesses in border security," he said.

Yuma Patriots co-founder Flash Sharrar said the plane will be in radio contact with units on the ground for a day patrol Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and a possible night patrol from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

"I don't anticipate that this will interfere with any of our operations," said Michael Gramley, spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol's Yuma sector.

Spencer said he pilots the Cessna TU206 with two technicians on board to analyze the intelligence.

The plane, which ABP has had for one month, is flown with the cargo doors off and cameras aimed at the ground. The intelligence equipment includes laptop computers with known smuggling routes, a global positioning system and a frequency scanner.

The plane has short takeoff and landing capabilities and is the preferred model for many professional skydivers, Spencer said.

Units on the ground can be given a remote transmitter, Spencer said, so they can actually see a feed of what the cameras are seeing from the air.

When the Patriots come into contact with illegal aliens, Sharrar said they flash spotlights on them and tell them to sit down. They then contact the Border Patrol to apprehend them.

"The Border Patrol has been very responsive to the Yuma Patriots' calls," Sharrar said.

Patriots member and local attorney John Minore said the Patriots have had air support from local pilots in the past, but never a plane as effective as this one should be. "This has an infrared camera and night vision," Minore said. "This plane flies at a slow speed. The regular planes fly a lot faster."

Spencer said ABP was incorporated as a nonprofit in June 2002 in an effort to shed light on illegal immigration. Its operations, which include some civilian patrols, are funded through donations, and Spencer said support has been increasing.

"We're able to do it because we get the job done," he said.

In the past, Spencer said ABP has smuggled a simulated weapon of mass destruction across the border, reported groups of illegal aliens that were apprehended and broadcast video of illegal aliens crossing the border in real time on the Internet.