Seattle cancels police drone program after outcry over privacy issues

SEATTLE - A plan by Seattle police to send aloft miniature robot drones equipped with stealth spy cameras has been grounded, following heated criticism of the project by residents concerned about privacy rights, the mayor says.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said Thursday that he and Police Chief John Diaz decided to cancel the use of two unmanned helicopters to better focus on maintaining the public's trust.

The miniature helicopters, known as Draganflyer X6 drones, weigh 3.5 lbs and are equipped to carry video, still and night-vision cameras. In Seattle, they would have been used to search for missing persons and in certain criminal investigations, police said.

The aircraft would not carry weapons but the use of drones for even mundane tasks raises ire among some because of the association of pilotless crafts with covert U.S. missile strikes in places such as Pakistan and Yemen.

In Seattle, they would have been used to search for missing persons and in certain criminal investigations, police said . . . the use of drones for even mundane tasks raises ire among some because of the association of pilotless crafts with covert U.S. missile strikes in places such as Pakistan and Yemen.

No. The use of drones for even mundane tasks raises ire among some because the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. There is a reasonable expectation of privacy in your back yard and in many other areas that police drones could monitor "in certain criminal investigations". The use of drones without a warrant in fact violates the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches - we can hope that the Supreme Court will, for now, uphold at least this part of our disappearing Bill of Rights.

The police could videotape me by drone indoors and outdoors continuously for a year and not discover any crimes worse than speeding by 5 mph over the limit, and nothing more embarrassing either, but that's not the point. We have to protect the free speech rights of even Nazis and Obama supporters or we will all lose that right. We have to protect the privacy rights of those growing pot behind fences and hedges in their yards or we will all lose our privacy. We have to protect every part of the Bill of Rights or the leftists will topple the entire collection of limits on government intrusion into our lives. Drone monitoring, like wiretaps, should require a search warrant.

“A plan by Seattle police to send aloft miniature robot drones equipped with stealth spy cameras has been grounded, following heated criticism of the project by residents concerned about privacy rights”

Well, lookee here. The leftists in Seattle organized and stopped the government from doing something they didn’t like.

Do you think conservatives might learn something from this? Like, maybe organize, dudes, and bring pressure on local government. Attending city council meetings, county board meetings and schoolboard meetings might stop stuff like high property taxes, control of private property and commie teachers in public school classrooms.

Forget it. Conservatives are too busy remodeling kitchens, barbecuing ribs and worshipping mammon.

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