Phil/Matt
If you think this should be in the general forum, please feel free to move it!
The FBI were invited in to our company on Monday to talk about cyber security. They also brought with them an agent from the Counter-terrorism unit in the Newark office. After the presentation, I took the chance to talk to him about the hobby and had an interesting discussion.
I'm not going to name the agent, as I never asked his permission to do so, and I don't want someone (i.e. not one of the regulars on here) cruising by the NYCA site and throwing the name out there, which is something that I am not even going to do.
He is well aware of the hobby of plane spotting and all it's associated spin-offs like photography etc. He understands that it is just a hobby and that we are not a threat.
He said that right after 9/11 they were getting calls about people at airports making notes and taking photos and they didn't know anything about the hobby and were quick off the mark to come out and give people a hard time.
He said that most police departments around the country are aware of the hobby now, but they are still going to come out and check you out. He said that occasionally you may get someone who is not normally assigned to the airport that gives you a hard time because they are unaware of the hobby, but once they run your details you should be OK.
