Unfriendly skies

An out-of-control aerial drone made by San Diego’s own General Atomics had to be shot out of the sky by the United States Air Force over northern Afghanistan on September 13. According to various industry reports, the MQ-9 Reaper, which is purchased in sets of four with a guidance system for $53 million, lost contact with its ground-based controllers in the United States and headed off on a course that would have taken it into neighboring Tajikistan or China. It was ordered destroyed by an F-15E Strike Eagle. “We do not speculate on the cause of an aircraft mishap,” Captain Frank Hartnett, a spokesman for the Air Force, said. He added that this was the first Reaper of its particular model to go out of control. Reliability issues have shadowed the General Atomics drone program from its beginning. … San Diego city auditor Eduardo Luna is staging a conference here this Friday cosponsored by the International Law Enforcement Auditors Association to discuss abuse of anabolic steroids by police officers. According to the program, “Anabolic steroid abuse among law enforcement professionals is a rapidly growing problem. This presentation will discuss the challenges this issue presents to law enforcement regarding the job/personal related effects, as well as the legal and civil ramifications.”