Posted on 05/15/2012 6:46:51 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Unmanned drones could soon be buzzing in the skies above many U.S. cities, as the federal government green-lights the technology for local law enforcement amid widespread privacy concerns.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday began to explain the rules of the sky for these newly licensed drones at potentially dozens of sites across the country. The agency, on its website, said that government "entities" will have to obtain a special certificate in order to fly the aircraft, adding that the FAA is "streamlining the process for public agencies to safely fly (drones) in the nation's airspace."
In doing so, the government is taking a tool that has become synonymous with U.S. counterterror warfare in countries like Pakistan and Yemen -- and putting it in the hands of U.S. law enforcement.
Unlike some of the drones used overseas, these will not be equipped with missiles. They are to be used purely for surveillance. But that alone has raised serious privacy concerns on Capitol Hill and beyond.
"Our Founding Fathers had no idea that there would be remote-control drones with television monitors that can feed back live data instantaneously -- but if they had, they would have made darn sure ... that these things were subject to the Fourth Amendment (protecting individual privacy)," Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, told Fox News.
Drones have already been employed domestically. In what was described as the first case where an unmanned drone was used to arrest an American citizen on U.S. soil, a North Dakota SWAT team reportedly borrowed a Department of Homeland Security drone to monitor Rodney Brossart -- who was involved in a 16-hour standoff at his North Dakota farm over six cattle that had wandered onto his property and which he claimed as his own.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
You need a SWAT team to enforce Common Law?
There are altogether too many policemen in this country. Drones? How long before we begin to sympathize with the Afghans?
Fortunately, our local TEA Party is part of the review process for tax expendatures. They'll be no drones to purchase in our hometown. Live locally!
If kids point a Laser Pointer at it does it get to launch a Hellfire Missile at them.
I just hope someone does not accidentally pull a trigger and blast a few residences or suburban block.
Maybe they will use the drones on OWS?
Oh wait! I forgot that OWS can trespass, steal, loiter, vandalize, and make threats with impunity, immune to the consequences of the law.
There should be some awesome police chase videos on youtube soon!
/s
Private drones, for crop-dusting, aerial photography, or cargo hauling will of course remain BANNED.
Government must have a monopoly on the airspace, dontcha know.
Bastards. WE have allowed this tyranny to take root.
I’m assuming the Rodney Brossart case involved a search warrant, which would make it the equivalent of tapping a phone.
Beyond that, to say I have a problem with this would be the height of understatement.
Target practice in the South is going to get very interesting.
I was quoted in an Air Command and Staff research paper as saying:
“Given that war is a political act then the unmanned aerial system is the most dangerous weapon of war ever developed. Because, it will remove a politician’s natural propensity for waging unnecessary wars.”
I still stand by that statement. My error was thinking that the political use of the UAVs would stop outside the US national boarders.
But then, I think that political discourse has truly become a war; its our rulers verses the rest of us.
Yet.
Give it time.
The entire conversation on this is utterly ridiculous. I’m glad our Police have flown helicopters to slow down high speed chases and catch Democrat voters in the act when they are burglarizing from roofs. Instead of the expensive hiring of pilots and other helicopter expenses, we can do the same stuff we’ve done for decades at a much lower cost.
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