Russian Laser Bustski

[Tech_Junkie]

I dont know, seems that they know it can cause harm to someone, but want to do it anyway. And laugh about it while they are doing it. These people are not ignorant, or neglectful, they know exactly what they are doing. They are just scum, not idiots. Some are stupid, but everyone knows its dumb to point lasers at people, cars, planes, ect. This notion has been around since the early 1mW red pointers, so there are no excuses really. When people seek out high powered lasers, they know what the lasers are capable of.

 

[Helios]

Agreed

I wonder what kind of power these lasers are putting out. Do you think they are just regular newwish pens or actual high output lasers?

 

[yzer]

I haven't seen a news report that included output power of the perp's laser. Last winter a guy was busted in the SF Bay Area and the newspaper account simply described it a "high powered laser."

Most people that own laser pointers or handhelds are going to own the cheap stuff. We all know that power ratings on the warning stickers don't have much to do what the laser is capable of producing, assuming a label is still attached to the laser. A cheap interlock key doesn't mean anything, either.

Law enforcement can't determine the power of a laser short of putting it on an LPM. I'm sure that a good prosecutor would do that as part of court case but you don't read much about these cases when they hit court. I suspect plea bargains and fines get pretty important to defendants looking at felony convictions. However, the power of the laser isn't the issue in a court case involving interference with aircraft. The fact that a laser was used to intentionally illuminate an aircraft is enough to get a conviction.

My guess is that most of these greens that get used on aircraft cost a lot less than $100 apiece and have inflated power ratings (excluding IR). I base this only of the fact that the average cost of all green lasers is probably not that high.