Police Departments' New Tool: Drones
Drones are no longer just part of the military's arsenal of tools. Police departments across the U.S. are getting them too.
FlaglerLive reports:
With financial help from the federal government, police departments across the country are marshaling a new generation of remote-controlled airborne surveillance devices to be their eyes in the sky.
The Miami-Dade Police Department now has drones ready to use. NBC Miami reports:
The Miami-Dade Police Department finally stands ready to launch their two micro air vehicles, or MAVs, the next time a shooting standoff or hostage situation could use a bird's eye boost, more than two years after getting the drones.
"It has no weapons," said Sergeant Andrew Cohen, one of the county's 12 pilot officers. "It's just a camera, basically a flying camera."
The potential far-reaching surveillance has the ACLU sounding the need for caution:
"Our privacy laws are not strong enough to ensure that the new technology will be used responsibly and consistently with democratic values," warns the ACLU report, Protecting Privacy From Aerial Surveillance. "We need a system of rules to ensure that we can enjoy the benefits of this technology without bringing us a large step closer to a 'surveillance society' in which our every move is monitored, tracked, recorded and scrutinized by the authorities."
RT notes:
"There can be a very lucrative market in the United States for drones in police departments who are already militarized - from tanks to assault vehicles to assault rifles, flap jackets, the helmets," John Whitehead [a constitutional attorney from the Rutherford Institute] said. "The modern police look like the military so now they are going to be using military equipment."
RT looks further with this video:
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Drones are no longer just part of the military's arsenal of tools. Police departments across the U.S. are getting them too.
FlaglerLive reports:
With financial help from the federal government, police departments across the country are marshaling a new generation of remote-controlled airborne surveillance devices to be their eyes in the sky.
The Miami-Dade Police Department now has drones ready to use. NBC Miami reports:
The Miami-Dade Police Department finally stands ready to launch their two micro air vehicles, or MAVs, the next time a shooting standoff or hostage situation could use a bird's eye boost, more than two years after getting the drones.
"It has no weapons," said Sergeant Andrew Cohen, one of the county's 12 pilot officers. "It's just a camera, basically a flying camera."
The potential far-reaching surveillance has the ACLU sounding the need for caution:
"Our privacy laws are not strong enough to ensure that the new technology will be used responsibly and consistently with democratic values," warns the ACLU report, Protecting Privacy From Aerial Surveillance. "We need a system of rules to ensure that we can enjoy the benefits of this technology without bringing us a large step closer to a 'surveillance society' in which our every move is monitored, tracked, recorded and scrutinized by the authorities."
RT notes:
"There can be a very lucrative market in the United States for drones in police departments who are already militarized - from tanks to assault vehicles to assault rifles, flap jackets, the helmets," John Whitehead [a constitutional attorney from the Rutherford Institute] said. "The modern police look like the military so now they are going to be using military equipment."
RT looks further with this video:
Drones are no longer just part of the military's arsenal of tools. Police departments across the U.S. are getting them too.
FlaglerLive reports:
With financial help from the federal government, police departments across the country are marshaling a new generation of remote-controlled airborne surveillance devices to be their eyes in the sky.
The Miami-Dade Police Department now has drones ready to use. NBC Miami reports:
The Miami-Dade Police Department finally stands ready to launch their two micro air vehicles, or MAVs, the next time a shooting standoff or hostage situation could use a bird's eye boost, more than two years after getting the drones.
"It has no weapons," said Sergeant Andrew Cohen, one of the county's 12 pilot officers. "It's just a camera, basically a flying camera."
The potential far-reaching surveillance has the ACLU sounding the need for caution:
"Our privacy laws are not strong enough to ensure that the new technology will be used responsibly and consistently with democratic values," warns the ACLU report, Protecting Privacy From Aerial Surveillance. "We need a system of rules to ensure that we can enjoy the benefits of this technology without bringing us a large step closer to a 'surveillance society' in which our every move is monitored, tracked, recorded and scrutinized by the authorities."
RT notes:
"There can be a very lucrative market in the United States for drones in police departments who are already militarized - from tanks to assault vehicles to assault rifles, flap jackets, the helmets," John Whitehead [a constitutional attorney from the Rutherford Institute] said. "The modern police look like the military so now they are going to be using military equipment."
RT looks further with this video: