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Aerial Drones To Help Cops In Miami
Catoonsis writes "Reuters is reporting that 'Miami police could soon be the first in the United States to use cutting-edge, spy-in-the-sky technology to beef up their fight against crime.' The police force is
planning to make use of a small aerial drone, capable of hovering and quick maneuvers, to monitor the Miami-Dade area and alert officers of potential problems. The device, manufactured by Honeywell, is awaiting FAA approval before it can be put into use. This decision is just the latest chapter in the developing relationship between law enforcement and robotic assistants. 'U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been flying drones over the Arizona desert and southwest border with Mexico since 2006 and will soon deploy one in North Dakota to patrol the Canadian border as well. This month, Customs and Border Protection spokesman Juan Munoz Torres said the agency would also begin test flights of a modified version of its large Predator B drones, built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, over the Gulf of Mexico.'"
There's a reason why the Predator stays over the desert. Predators have crashed numerous times and do not have FAA approval to fly over populated areas in the US. Do we really think this thing from Honeywell that most definitely has less flight time than the Predator is air-worthy enough to fly over a super populated area like Miami? If this thing crashes and kills someone, I hope the city is sued into oblivion.
To keep US citizens in?
The grass is always greener on the other side of the light cone.
If it's drug crimes.. well, think of the children.... sigh
Oh wait! "We intend to use this to benefit us in carrying out our mission," he added, saying the wingless Honeywell aircraft, which fits into a backpack and is capable of vertical takeoff and landing, seems ideally suited for use by SWAT teams in hostage situations or dealing with "barricaded subjects." Clearly they are going to use it for drug busts... nice. Wonder where the police departments would spend all that money if they didn't have to fight drug crimes because some of them had been made legal? The espionage on private citizens elevates continuously in the war on drugs, war on crime, war on civil liberties without making anyone safer IMO. They already use helicopters, now this will put the capability of putting an eye in the sky in multiple locations without the expense of a helicopter and raise the danger level to ordinary citizens most likely.
Perhaps I'm cynical, but wasn't the last great advance for police forces the taser? Yep, that worked out pretty good, don't you think?
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If these drones become wide-spread, I predict that any sophisticated "bad guys" - i.e. drug runners and coyotes - will quickly get their own drones.
Maybe they won't be equipped with cameras, they'll probably be just run of the mill R/C helicopters. But they will be sufficient to take out any drones within visible range - just crash the R/C helicopter into the police drone to take it out of commission. If you miss, you just come back for another pass. Worst case, you keep the drone busy dodging the R/C helicopter instead of watching the goings on and best case you get a firey explosion in the sky. It will only take a few $500 R/C helicopter versus $50,000+ drone encounters before the police run out of drones.
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Has anyone heard any news on the LA ones, success or failure?
Personally, I'm not a big fan of more surveillance, though it seems inevitable. What politician (local or national) would stand up and say more cameras in (fill in the blank - schools, roads, public places, etc) is a bad idea. I mean it's all for our safety right? Think of the children and all that?
At least with the stationary cameras you know when you are being monitored.
Experience teaches only the teachable. -AH
What happens when you cut its strings(jam the signal)? Will it have a hover failsafe, or will it fall straight to the ground? That could become a new sport similar to frog giggin': first you jam the signal(shine the flashlight into its eyes), then you spear it(shoot it down). You could then cook it in a fire or mount it on the wall as a trophy.
http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USN1929797920080326 /. linking to the 1 page versions of articles. That whole trick of spreading an article over many pages just for ad impressions is just BS!
I wish article submitters, or the editors, would publish stuff on
They wouldn't need these drones if they Decriminalized drugs and made them available via doctor's prescription.
The drug runners business would dry up.
The government is not your daddy. Its purpose is not to raid middle-class neighbors' wallets and give it to you.
When you have to show your ID to go down the street, get validation from the US central database about your working at your current employer, and have every conversation logged and picked apart by the government you'll be thinking, "man, maybe those ACLU guys were right..." when someone comes to black bag you. But its ok, because the 'war on crime,' 'war on drugs,' and war on 'terrorism' will justify it... nevermind the fact that you can't really win a war on an idea.
I've always said that CVS is a lot less likely to stage a driveby shooting of Walgreens than Racially Neutral Name 1 is to stage a driveby of Racial Neutral Name 2's illicit drug operation.
"Because Science" is one step from "Because old book". Try "Because of my experiment testing my falsifiable assertion".
Your post smells trollish, but I'll answer anyway. The ACLU statement was that they'd like to see the use of these things regulated so they aren't used to violate your rights. They are not categorically opposed to its use.
The goal of the ACLU isn't to make it easier to commit crimes, it is to ensure that you don't lose your rights to the pursuit of criminals. Sure, a police state would be easier to run and traditional crime might plummet, but is that really the kind of country you want to call your own?
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They wouldn't need these drones if they Decriminalized drugs and made them available via doctor's prescription.
Off topic, but one problem with this; I really doubt that most people do drugs for health problems, though those that do should probably get them, granting that full medical studies would be needed. I really don't see my average pothead freind going to a doctor, then a pharmacy just to get a bag of weed he could probably still got on the street cheaper.
I say cheaper, since it seems classifying drugs as pharmacudicals would raise the price, just look at the average cost of American prescriptions.
I think in the dim possibility of legalized drugs they should be handled like alcohol in the states that still have state governed distribution, or like the shops in Amersterdam.
That said, I rather doubt the wisdom of legalizing ALL drugs, pot probably should be legal, but heroin less so. We should definatly not go after users though, and basically decriminalize small quanities of drugs so we can instead focus more on the supply chain, clear up the people that don't belong in our prison system, and divert some man power to keeping the druggies safe (clean needle exchange, better rehab and treatment programs, etc..), at least.
Back on topic: I don't know whether to put on my tinfoil hat or not on this story. The police already have plenty of survelience in the air in the form of helicopters, adding unmanned drones doesn't seem that big of a move. That said, helicopters generally go where the crime is, instead of generalized survalience, if these drones acted the same way I wouldn't worry. But if they hover around looking for crime, then I worry.
Why, also, do the police need drones? I can see in combat situations where they exist to keep the pilots out of danger (dead technology is worth less than dead people), but I don't see this true in metropolitan areas. I don't think Floridian cities are so crime ridden as to the point where the criminals have an ample supply of shoulder-fired missles. How many police helicopters have been shot down in Miami in the last ten years?
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
"The drug runners business would dry up."
As well as gangs and their warfare. Why doesn't anyone else see this when reports of gang violence on the rise is shown nightly on the news?
Oh yah because our own government has a media campaign aimed at convincing us that drug use makes you a bad person (unless it's pharmaceutical, then it's fine, esp for wieners).
Your government wants you to be afraid of the gangs - that way you'll turn to them for help and they can exploit you (at the very least financially) in the name of helping you. If they wanted a peaceful and caring society for all, there would be one.
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Fact: I have never met someone that does not do drugs because they are illegal. Fact: I do not do drugs quite simply because the risk/reward ratio is not appealing to me. And by risk I mean health risk not jail risk. Full disclosure, I race offroad and supersport motorcycles. In that case risk/reward works out for me. Note to self (I live in Miami) I wonder what the range of my paintball gun is when fired stright up?
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