North Dakota becomes first US state to legalise use of armed drones by police
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In North Dakota or other rural areas, a drone makes perfect sense, they can operate without the need for breaks, coffee, and cover way more road with cameras and sensors then a cop in a vehicle can. At night, they could use infrared and thermal sensors to snuff out people cops can't see at nite.
The only difference between a cop in a car on that high speed chase and a drone in a high speed car chase is...no officer gets hurt.
That's a very idealistic scenario you paint there. And if we could count on that being how drones are used, then I imagine I'd have less of a problem with them.
But my thoughts are that now we currently have a problem with police body cameras "malfunctioning" during questionable situations. How might a drone "malfunction"? And who is responsible if someone dies as a consequence of this "malfunction" which may, or may not, be a legitimate malfunction?
And let's take your scenario for example. Someone is speeding when a drone flies in front of them. They're startled by the unexpected appearance of a flying object in front of them, swerve to avoid a possible collision, and slam into a school bus with 35 children on board. Or the drone fires an EMP at their vehicle, all the electronics go down, and the power steering and power breaks no longer work, and now they're in a 70 mph unguided missile that's going to go wherever it is going to go...
I tend to think of the officer's safety as well as the perp..a perp is less likely to pull a gun on a drone because there is no fear factor involved, none of the "he's going to shoot, I need to shoot first"...nor glee in "I'm gonna kill me a piggie"....as to your scenario...I would imagine any vehicle stop would involve the same safety protocols now on the open road regarding a high speed pursuit, only here, no police officers are harmed, no lawsuits against a city for a cop hitting someone in that high speed chase.
Your scenario paints a silent drone popping out of nowhere to stop the vehicle..my scenario paints the same lights and sirens a cop car does, a drone pilot shouting over a microphone as a drone comes aside the vehicle "Stop your vehicle now". On vast stretches of US I-40, certainly in Tennessee, and North Carolina, there is nothing but forests on either side of the highway, and a State Trooper is without local city police backup. A stop at midnite when drug mules like to travel has no one on the road...hence an EMP is no danger to anyone else.
I have this question. If the only crime is speeding, why stop the vehicle at all? The reason a law officer stops a speeder and pulls them to the side of the road is so that they can get the driver's license and registration and write them a citation.
Is the drone going to be asking for license and registration? How will that work? And if now, what's the point in pulling them over rather than just taking a photo of their license plate and mailing them the citation, like some states currently do with small planes?
I tend to think of the officer's safety as well as the perp..a perp is less likely to pull a gun on a drone because there is no fear factor involved, none of the "he's going to shoot, I need to shoot first"...nor glee in "I'm gonna kill me a piggie"....as to your scenario...I would imagine any vehicle stop would involve the same safety protocols now on the open road regarding a high speed pursuit, only here, no police officers are harmed, no lawsuits against a city for a cop hitting someone in that high speed chase.
Your scenario paints a silent drone popping out of nowhere to stop the vehicle..my scenario paints the same lights and sirens a cop car does, a drone pilot shouting over a microphone as a drone comes aside the vehicle "Stop your vehicle now". On vast stretches of US I-40, certainly in Tennessee, and North Carolina, there is nothing but forests on either side of the highway, and a State Trooper is without local city police backup. A stop at midnite when drug mules like to travel has no one on the road...hence an EMP is no danger to anyone else.
I have this question. If the only crime is speeding, why stop the vehicle at all? The reason a law officer stops a speeder and pulls them to the side of the road is so that they can get the driver's license and registration and write them a citation.
Is the drone going to be asking for license and registration? How will that work? And if now, what's the point in pulling them over rather than just taking a photo of their license plate and mailing them the citation, like some states currently do with small planes?
The Drone pilot can ask the same question, license and registration held up before a camera, said information is checked just like an officer cop. My high speed chase usually involves the perp in something other then speeding. If he's a drug mule, or an armed robber, or shooting perp..the drone will detain until armed officers arrive on scene, just like a normal stop would entail, again, only difference..no cop is harmed.
I have this question. If the only crime is speeding, why stop the vehicle at all? The reason a law officer stops a speeder and pulls them to the side of the road is so that they can get the driver's license and registration and write them a citation.
Is the drone going to be asking for license and registration? How will that work? And if now, what's the point in pulling them over rather than just taking a photo of their license plate and mailing them the citation, like some states currently do with small planes?
The Drone pilot can ask the same question, license and registration held up before a camera, said information is checked just like an officer cop. My high speed chase usually involves the perp in something other then speeding. If he's a drug mule..the drone will detain until armed officers arrive on scene, just like a normal stop would entail, again, only difference..no cop is harmed.
I don't see that really working. If the perp is someone other than your run of the mill speeder, they're not going to be hanging around waiting for the cops. They're going to pull out a shotgun, or some kind of emp device, or something else to destroy or disable the drone and go on their merry way.
And killing a drone, doesn't carry the same weight as killing a cop, so there will be far less hesitation.
The Drone pilot can ask the same question, license and registration held up before a camera, said information is checked just like an officer cop. My high speed chase usually involves the perp in something other then speeding. If he's a drug mule..the drone will detain until armed officers arrive on scene, just like a normal stop would entail, again, only difference..no cop is harmed.
I don't see that really working. If the perp is someone other than your run of the mill speeder, they're not going to be hanging around waiting for the cops. They're going to pull out a shotgun, or some kind of emp device, or something else to destroy or disable the drone and go on their merry way.
And killing a drone, doesn't carry the same weight as killing a cop, so there will be far less hesitation.
The drone pilot can make the determination the perp is going to fire on the drone, again, just like a real officer, which can then fire lethal or non-lethal means to deter the shooter. Also no hesitation from the drone pilot to shot a taser or rubber bullet weapon at a shooter, or if need be lethal force.
I don't see that really working. If the perp is someone other than your run of the mill speeder, they're not going to be hanging around waiting for the cops. They're going to pull out a shotgun, or some kind of emp device, or something else to destroy or disable the drone and go on their merry way.
And killing a drone, doesn't carry the same weight as killing a cop, so there will be far less hesitation.
The drone pilot can make the determination the perp is going to fire on the drone, again, just like a real officer, which can then fire lethal or non-lethal means to deter the shooter. Also no hesitation from the drone pilot to shot a taser or rubber bullet weapon at a shooter, or if need be lethal force.
I don't think drones are quite as sophisticated as you think they are, at least not yet.
The drone pilot can make the determination the perp is going to fire on the drone, again, just like a real officer, which can then fire lethal or non-lethal means to deter the shooter. Also no hesitation from the drone pilot to shot a taser or rubber bullet weapon at a shooter, or if need be lethal force.
I don't think drones are quite as sophisticated as you think they are, at least not yet.