By Andrew Becker, Center for Investigative Reporting —
The U.S. Border Patrol has caught some border crossers in remote stretches of desert with a sophisticated sensor mounted on unmanned spy aircraft that can reveal every man, woman and child under its gaze from a height of about 25,000 feet.
With newly purchased assault rifles, body armor and armored vehicles, “many officers look more and more like combat troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan,” finds the Center for Investigative Reporting, which has arguably done a better job than Washington of tracking what precincts around the country have bought with $34 billion in federal grants.