10-20-2017, 10:32 AM
Yeah, I agree that private citizens flying drones with cameras into other people's property would be annoying. I've never experienced it, but I know it happens and it would piss me off if some drone-owning numbskull was surveilling my backyard.
I don't think all the people protesting the use of drones by LE are doing so because they're anti-cop though. I think some of them are legitimately concerned that police could use them to get around probable cause and search warrant requirements; the same kinds of concerns a lot of US citizens expressed when they found out that the post-911 Patriot Act allowed the police and other governmental agencies to monitor their electronic communications in attempt to identify potential terrorists plotting in the United States.
Anyway, hopefully the use of drones by LE won't be abused. LE doesn't get to spy on people's private property or entire neighborhoods via drone footage and then use what they find to try to build a case against citizens. They would need to have probable cause if the drones are to be used in criminal investigations. That's my understanding anyway.
I don't think all the people protesting the use of drones by LE are doing so because they're anti-cop though. I think some of them are legitimately concerned that police could use them to get around probable cause and search warrant requirements; the same kinds of concerns a lot of US citizens expressed when they found out that the post-911 Patriot Act allowed the police and other governmental agencies to monitor their electronic communications in attempt to identify potential terrorists plotting in the United States.
Anyway, hopefully the use of drones by LE won't be abused. LE doesn't get to spy on people's private property or entire neighborhoods via drone footage and then use what they find to try to build a case against citizens. They would need to have probable cause if the drones are to be used in criminal investigations. That's my understanding anyway.