Money is like time in that an excess of either can get a person, organization, or nation in trouble. When police forces are limited by available finances, they tend to stick to what they are paid to do, rather than declare eveyone to be a threat to the state.
Then again maybe the Sheriff is trying to do his job with the money available. I don’t see much difference between a little plane and a bigger one when privacy is concerned. If I don’t want one I sure don’t want the other.
But this may have some real possibilities. An armed drone that could hover and had loud speakers, “Stop Citizen! Hold your papers up where the camera can see them!”, followed by a rounds of lead for noncompliance.
And all vehicles will have their tags painted on the roof.
Feeling a bit paranoid yet?