Do You Think Local Law Enforcement Should Be Allowed to Use Aerial Drones for Tasks Like Search and Rescue?

by ABC News U.S. Posted 2013/02/14 21:21:42

Related Topics: Drones, Aerial Drones, Law Enforcement, Search And Rescue

10,532 votes
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	Yes	8,245 votes	78%
	No	2,287 votes	22%

Lawmakers in at least 11 states are looking at plans to restrict the use of drones over their skies amid concerns the unmanned aerial vehicles could be exploited to spy on Americans. The American Civil Liberties Union says state legislators are proposing various restrictions on local authorities' use of the technology.

Concerns mounted after the Federal Aviation Administration began establishing safety standards for civilian drones, which are becoming increasingly affordable and small in size. Some police agencies have said the drones could be used for surveillance of suspects, search and rescue operations, and gathering details on damage caused by natural disasters.

+24

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dlsofsetx 2013/02/15 19:59:54

No

+16
That would not be their primary objective.It's for Orwellian spying.
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Monty to Popeye 2013/02/15 23:16:03 (edited)

oh yeah. that's real smart. they'd land you in jail real quick. and how would you know what that drone was doing?

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Popeye to Monty 2013/02/16 01:51:11

I guess we will find out if it parks itself over my property without a warrant.

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Monty to Popeye 2013/02/16 02:14:24

Probes have to have warrants now?

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Monty to Popeye 2013/02/27 22:57:24

does goggle sky need a warrant? stop making that illegal moonshine if your so worried about it lol

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RJeffreySavlov 2013/02/15 17:01:48

Yes

And to shoot down invading illegals at our southern border.

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MissAshley 2013/02/15 14:11:28

No

+2
because it wouldn't be used just for search and rescue... what ever happened to good ol' fashioned police work?

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Sanctum... to MissAshley 2013/02/15 19:27:08

+2
Times have changed and technology has advanced. Good ol fashioned police work takes too long!

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MissAshley to Sanctum... 2013/02/15 20:08:07

+1
True, true

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Lady Whitewolf 2013/02/15 10:52:34

Yes

+5
If it is STRICTLY for search and rescue, yes....

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Foxhoun... to Lady Wh... 2013/02/15 20:03:45

HAHAHA! Good one!

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Lady Wh... to Foxhoun... 2013/02/16 13:18:51

+1
I understand what you're thinking..

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Gid 2013/02/15 05:56:19

Yes

+1
If it is theirs sure. We do ourselves a great disservice when we blur the liens between military and civilian law enforcement. The same is true of fed and State government.

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PrettieReptar 2013/02/15 03:59:15

No

+6
Oh boy. The government will find anyway to get these things in the sky including telling the public its for good purposes. And the public will fall for it.

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joe mauro to Prettie... 2013/02/15 19:37:54

+3
thats always their excuse,like the tsa,what a joke!

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CorrectOpinion 2013/02/15 02:35:02

Yes

+1
sure.

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WhereIsAmerica? ~PWCM~JLA 2013/02/15 02:14:43

Yes

+2
But they will use it for the wrong reasons too, and THAT is the problem.

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Cliff 2013/02/15 01:54:41 (edited)

No

+3
Search and rescue is fine but we all know they would be tempted to use them to patrol the streets. If that happens, the donut shops will go out of business.

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joe mauro to Cliff 2013/02/15 19:38:36

that joint must have a good happy hour.

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Christopher Bookkeeping 2013/02/15 01:40:48

Yes

Whatever works.

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Jayne 2013/02/15 01:28:51

Yes

+3
Search and Rescue is one thing. Warrentless surveillance is another.

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Lady Wh... to Jayne 2013/02/15 10:53:20

MY thoughts exactly

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mind-pilot 2013/02/15 00:21:48

Yes

It's the modern age. We did the same with police heliocopters, look where that got us.
These drones are perfect for search and rescue.
We're going to need them to patrol the skies for the incoming Communist Chinese "dragon drones" that the commies are planning to put into our airspace.
We wanted technology. Now the cat's out of the bag.....what else can we do?

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SIMPATTYCO 2013/02/15 00:10:33

Yes

IF HELICOPTERS ARE OK WHY NOT DRONES

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wtxwoman 2013/02/14 23:52:30

Yes

I'd rather they used the drones for good reasons than to spy on, oh say, me!

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Monty to wtxwoman 2013/02/16 01:27:22

+1
Why would they spy on you? You doing sonething wrong?

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wtxwoman to Monty 2013/02/16 02:27:28

Not now.

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Kaye 2013/02/14 23:42:36

Yes

+1
For rescues,yes

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John Galt jr or Ron/jon 2013/02/14 23:40:45

No

+4
sounds like a good idea on top of a very slippery slope

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Sam 2013/02/14 23:32:00

Yes

They already use helicopters with heat seeking equipment and drones would be cheaper and less likely to crash and cause more deaths.

It would be great if they could make them powerful enough to hover and land so a person lost in a remote area could climb in a sling and get rescued.

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Elaine Magliacane 2013/02/14 23:20:33

No

+1
HELL NO... the people of the USA ARE BROKE... we can't afford the cops on the ground, now we need to pay for million dollar drones? GET REAL people... these things are going to the the DEATH or FREEDOM.

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Sam to Elaine ... 2013/02/14 23:36:44

+1
It would cost much less to use a drone than to use a helicopter for search and rescue just in fuel alone and drones can fly farther on less fuel to cover a larger area.

Simple economics says they will be used and it would be no different than the eyes in the skys we already have.

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Kaye to Elaine ... 2013/02/14 23:45:16

Helicopters might be better because it keeps someone in a job.

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Monty to Kaye 2013/02/16 01:29:08

Your saying drones would cost jobs? I think not. Tgey wiuld save money.

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Christo... to Elaine ... 2013/02/15 01:43:49

I'm not broke, nor any of my neighbors, and if everyone else is "broke" what is the point of police (nothing to steal after all since everyone else is broke apparently) do yourself a favor; lose the chicken little mentality.

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joe mauro to Elaine ... 2013/02/15 19:39:03

thank you

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Foxhoun... to Elaine ... 2013/02/15 20:07:29 (edited)

good point. i think the brits are using tiny drones and they paid like 160k for them when you can get something very similar for around 100 dollars online. i know it's not the same but we get so fkd on these deals!

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mike j 2013/02/14 23:10:36

No

+3
The county and State Police usually have a manned helicopter and they will use it , at least here in Texas to help on bonafide search for crimnal , or search for lost or missing children or adults . They fly specific missions and are loud and fly in such a way as to be focused on the mission for which they launched . And they fly flight logs and file reports with agencies that answer eventualy to elected officials responsible for spending our taxpayer money. I see no need to fly unmanned aerial drones.

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Sam to mike j 2013/02/14 23:33:21

+1
It would be a lot cheaper to use the drones and could cover a larger area because they use much much less fuel than a chopper.

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ray to Sam 2013/02/14 23:39:14

Currently Drone flights cost several multiples of manned helicopter patrols .
Hourly rates copters are measured in hundreds of dollars per hour
Drone Rates are measured in Thousands of dollars per hour .

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Sam to ray 2013/02/14 23:55:19

Wrong:

You are trying to compare reaper military drones to small surveilance drones that only requires one man and a computer to opperate.

That is not this

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