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MIAMI (CBS4) – Miami-Dade’s newest crime fighting tool is a literal ‘eye in the sky’.
The Micro Air Vehicle, or MAV for short, is a small radio controlled drone aircraft equipped with a portable camera system. Miami-Dade Sgt. Andrew Cohen said drone will be used to gather real time information in situations which may be too dangerous for officers.
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“If an SRT (Special Response Team) has to go into an area they don’t know what’s there, we don’t know what is in the backyard,” said Cohen, “They want to know if there are dogs in the backyard, if there is a shed, things that could be a threat to us.”The MAV is used by the military to scan dangerous areas before troops are sent in. Miami-Dade police used a $50,000 grant to buy one, but not everyone is happy with the purchase.
“What happens when they fly over backyards and they see something without a warrant that they want to take against,” said ACLU Executive Director Howard Simon.
Police admit the MAV, if flown low enough, has the ability to look into people’s home, but that is not its intended purpose.
“If this thing is deployed, it’s only going to be used in situations where we already have an ongoing police scene,” said Cohen. “They are going to know we are there because we will have tactical teams, SRT teams, we’re going to have a perimeter, it’s going to be secure.”
Meanwhile the police department is awaiting approval from the FAA before they can use the MAV. They have submitted the application, but the approval process can take up to six months.
321 Comments
you can buy a similar product now for $299 called the AR Drone has front and bottom cameras and you fly it with an ipad or iphone with the video streaming back to it. You can even buy aftermarket platform that lets you record
March 9, 2011 at 4:27 pm | | Report comment
Where can you buy this?
March 9, 2011 at 5:39 pm | | Report comment
Well that’s sketchy…
March 9, 2011 at 5:51 pm
Brookstone has the AR Drone.
March 10, 2011 at 9:05 am
neat idea but the range is less that 25 feet
March 9, 2011 at 5:48 pm | | Report comment
The iPhone Remote/Controlled AR Drone is just ONE of multiple R/C video camera-equippable helicopter-like drones you can buy off the shelf. Prices range from under $500 to $15,000 depending on weight carrying ability, range of control, range of video, etc.
You can get a very nice relatively long-range (say, 1/4 mile or so) hobbyist-grade R/C heli-drone for under $1000. Certainly good enough for close-in video work. You can also upgrade to night-vision capable optics.
I’ve seen people fly these around the neighborhood. They’re fairly easy for just about anyone to learn to control, although I’m sure a government employee would have a total union-approved compensation package of over $100,000 per year to do this. Probably gets a little more added to base salary because he/she will have the added training module in his resume’. Then of course there’s overtime, double-overtime, and triple-overtime for off-hours operation.
March 10, 2011 at 7:44 am | | Report comment
You got that right!!!!!!!!
March 10, 2011 at 10:43 am
Yup. I have absolutely no problems with them using this type of technology. What I object to is that they obviously did not look at all of the (much) less expensive and yet highly capable alternatives, like the Draganfly UAVs, which have a very professional video platform for $10-20K.
March 10, 2011 at 11:09 am
My new market for the consumer is an EMP gun. Aim and disable snoopers and thus protect one’s prvacy.
Will work on cellphones and robo-snoops as well.
March 10, 2011 at 12:05 pm | | Report comment
Which, in turn, will open up a new market for EMP-shielded flying spybots.
March 10, 2011 at 3:13 pm
hit it wide open fred
March 11, 2011 at 1:34 pm
ya but when you are a government agency whats the differnce between 299 0r 50k?
March 10, 2011 at 7:45 pm | | Report comment
I think that is great .
March 9, 2011 at 5:06 pm | | Report comment
Sweet, those willing to sacrifice liberty for security will lose both and deserve neither. Don’t you really think you’d be happier in a country that already has no freedoms instead of taking ours?
March 9, 2011 at 5:44 pm | | Report comment
no. i like the fact that we can catch more mexicans and muslims so we can get RID of the mexican menace and the muslim menace
March 9, 2011 at 5:55 pm
Excellent comment Dunnyveg, it is amazing just how many are willing to lose their liberty. I don’t know if it is naivety or just plain ignorance but i do know it is incredibly sad.
March 9, 2011 at 5:56 pm
great comment Dunnyveg…….in the revolutionary war of 1776, a very small minority of eligible men/patriots came out early to help Washington. Only after defeating the Hessians following crossing the Delaware did 15,000 “fair weather” men come out to fight. You and I Dunnyveg are not fair weather patriots!
March 9, 2011 at 6:08 pm
My guess came from one and likes to duplicate failure.
March 9, 2011 at 6:36 pm
If we dont stop this now we will regret it. A police state is the worst type of country to live in. DO we need a revolution to stop these overreaching bandits and thugs posing as police?
March 9, 2011 at 6:45 pm
Absolutely correct. America, Land of the Debt Slaves, and Home of the BENT-KNEE.
March 9, 2011 at 6:45 pm
I am afraid that is the case.
March 9, 2011 at 8:47 pm
Nothing a 30-30 round can’t fix. I don’t see any armor on it.
March 9, 2011 at 9:29 pm
Correct. No armor at all. I’d use a 30.06 though. Anything that can kill a lawnmower will bring this sucker down. So will a stiff crosswind.
March 9, 2011 at 11:13 pm
Without security you don’t have life itself live with liberty. And if it was you or your kid being held hostage you’d damn well want this drone to do anything it can possibly do.
March 9, 2011 at 6:46 pm
Skynet
March 9, 2011 at 6:51 pm
nicely stated
March 10, 2011 at 9:08 am
Typical misapplication of Benjamin Franklin’s words and intent. This old saw gets trotted out and abused every time someone who was only half-awake during history class wants to object to some surveillance activity by the government, which was NOT the context in which Franklin uttered these words.
March 10, 2011 at 10:19 am
Amen brother
March 10, 2011 at 10:22 am
Did I miss the sarcasm in your “great”?
If not, you are truly one of the sheep who enables fascism and a police state to enforce it.
“How we burned int the prison camps later thinking: What would things have been like if every police operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive? If during periods of mass arrests people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever was at hand? The organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and, notwithstanding all of Stalin’s thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt.”
“If… if… We didn’t love freedom enough. And even more – we had no awareness of the real situation. We spent ourselves in one unrestrained outburst in 1917, and then we hurried to submit. We submitted with pleasure!… We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.”
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn
March 9, 2011 at 5:47 pm | | Report comment
Excellent.
March 9, 2011 at 6:31 pm
JoeQ & Clark… I’d go with a 12 gauge and #4 buck. The thing is tiny, and would be hard to hit with a rifle.
March 10, 2011 at 8:18 am
Here we are spending ourselves out of existence, and allowing terrorists to cross the border into the country. The mainstream media and the administration is pretending that Islam is not a threat. Any one who tries to bring attention to the fact that our very existence is in danger is dismissed as unbalanced. We appear to be making the same mistake they did.
March 10, 2011 at 9:38 am
@ Jimmy IGNORANT RACIST RULED BY FEAR
March 9, 2011 at 6:07 pm | | Report comment
Jimmy thinks Mexicans and Muslims are a menace, but what do you call a Jimmy menace? Jimenez (when I read this, I can’t help but hear it in the voice of Jimmy the 3rd person talker from Seinfeld)
March 10, 2011 at 5:55 pm
Miami-Dade County is discusting….truly one of the worst places in America to live, as I’ve mentioned all over the globe..don’t move to Miami, you will soon regret it! ! It is a foreign country within the USA. The MP of UK and Chancellor of Germany and others “belately” came to the conculsion that multi-culturalism does NOT work. It does NOT work in Miami and this 50 year experiemnt has utlerly “failed”. The hispanic majority in Miami-Dade does NOT want to assimilate into the American culture “nver-has-never-will”. The hispanic majoritys OUTRAGEOUS DISCIMINATION against the native-white American and black-American minorities is shocking ! I’ve oftened wondered why in all these years no US Attorney General or Us Justice Dept. officials have not done an investigation into the situation here…in the courts, school board, policeand corupt local politcains. THE CULTURE AND ATTITUDES are not American but of their home countries machismo-culture of domination, humiliation and degradation to name a few…and now machines that see in your windows..at least it let’s the cops off long enough to fool around with their girlfriends (typical behaviour) while they shoudl be working. Oh well and so the world turns.
March 9, 2011 at 6:23 pm | | Report comment
you think it is great?? How disgusting. Where did you leave your leash? The mind numbing willingness for people to be treated like cattle in the land of the free and home of the brave.
March 9, 2011 at 6:35 pm | | Report comment
Damn Government spying on the American people…. Invasion of privacy…WAKE UP AMERICA
March 9, 2011 at 5:36 pm | | Report comment
Oh yes, damn them, damn them: they killed Kenny!
March 9, 2011 at 5:45 pm | | Report comment
@AJ you’re right! I don’t mind anyone inviting my personal privacy, the government would never abuse us, like grabbing your crotch at an airport or subway… you dolt
March 9, 2011 at 7:40 pm
If your not a criminal what do you have to worry about?
March 9, 2011 at 7:09 pm | | Report comment
Don’t be stupid. How would you like ME snooping everything you do?
March 9, 2011 at 7:12 pm
Your such a rube. I am entilted to my prviacy over your safety bub!
You would flush all your freedoms away for nothing.
March 9, 2011 at 7:16 pm
If I’m not a criminal, why would the government be looking in my house?
March 9, 2011 at 7:17 pm
Duhhh!!! Your 4th Amendment Right
March 9, 2011 at 7:18 pm
Oh I don’t know….a misinterpretation on something like pulling out a bag of catnip for my cat and then suddenly getting raided for suspected pot possession, or maybe slow destruction of the U.S. Constitution…..use your imagination.
March 9, 2011 at 7:19 pm
The criminal intent of crooked Police Officers.
March 9, 2011 at 7:19 pm
so how would you feel if some police office was popping by your windows snooping around ? youre not a criminal… you dont have anything to hide… so does that make it right? how would you feel about that if you saw a black and white looking in your window? are you comfy? does it make you feel warm and fuzzy inside?
March 9, 2011 at 7:20 pm
This is the dumbest comment I have ever heard of, you really think it is ok for the government to spy on its citizens without a warrant? I bet you think the constitution is outdated and needs to be re-written.
March 9, 2011 at 7:21 pm
What are YOU hiding that you have to close your curtains at night? What sort of materials are YOU sending through the mail that requires you to seal the envelope?
March 9, 2011 at 7:23 pm
Denezio these things are put to to make people criminals. We have more jailed per capita than any country in the world. They are not going for criminals…now everyone is a potential terrorist.Though police are here.
March 9, 2011 at 7:30 pm
That is the question the Fascists and Nazis asked. When they make almost everything against the law…we will all be criminals. What do you think the Fourth Ammendment is all about?
March 9, 2011 at 7:31 pm
When they came for….
I wasn’t ….. so I said nothing.
When they came for…..
I wasn’t ….. so I said nothing.
When they came for me, there was no one left to give a damn.
Hopefully, sir; you really do have a brain and are just making dumb conversation.
March 9, 2011 at 7:35 pm
People like you that are willing to give up your liberty, thats what what Iam afraid of.
March 9, 2011 at 7:37 pm
LOTS, maybe for the simple fact that they want to make backyard gardens illegal, or the fact that it’s none of their business to be looking into ones house or backyard WITHOUT a warrant, also the simple fact that the gov proposes new laws every year, so you could be in violation of a so called law without ever even knowing, and all they have to say is, ” we saw something while checking out another situation ”
this is classic, incrementalism, the always unintended consequence , it needs to be thwarted before it becomes common place and the USA becomes a full blown police state.
why aren’t they protecting the borders? why are they trying to spy on tax paying americans? using our tax money to do so….. we’re being forced to play for our enslavement and like it.
this is sad……… and only going to get worse until WE the People stand up for our freedoms, governments don’t make or keep you safe, it’s up to the individual and your immediate community of LIKE MINDED people.
March 9, 2011 at 7:42 pm
it’s spelled you’re not your and your an idiot.
March 9, 2011 at 7:42 pm
your an idiot
March 9, 2011 at 7:42 pm
my reply was to whoever wrote “if your not a criminal why worry about it?” I thought my reply would post underneath that brilliant analysis, not down here at the bottom of the page.
March 9, 2011 at 7:48 pm
Well I can worry about them flying over my house and seeing me naked in the shower. We can worry about them possibly using it for personal use to spy on a spuose. We can worry about the constituional right of a person and their property being secure from unreasonable and unwarranted searches (which has already been stepped on) being violated with greater ease. I can think of quite a few reasons beyond this. There is a reason we limit the athourity and ability of the police to gather intel on citizens, cause they are just like us and when given an inch of leway they quickly want a mile.
March 9, 2011 at 7:46 pm
you dont have to be a criminal to want and understand that you have a right to privacy!
March 9, 2011 at 7:46 pm
DENIZIO, YOU ARE AN IDIOT. that is the dumbest response I have ever heard. Crooked cops knowing if you are home and what you have in your house!! Stupid cops mistaking something thats legal for something illegal and busting into your house. People who have different political veiws, or any million other reasons could be spied on. I don’t break the law, and I don’t want anyone, ANYONE, ESPECIALLY THE GOVERNMENT SPYING ON MY FAMILY!!! Our Founding Fathers hated government and specifically said it was a necessary EVIL. This is a country where we are innocent until proven guilty. The police have no reason to look in anyone’s house!!!!!!!!!!!
March 9, 2011 at 7:50 pm
the if you are not a criminal line has been used by many to justify the reduction of freedom for many. i say you are not free unless you have the ability to destroy such intrusion on your freedom.
March 10, 2011 at 7:38 am
Famous last words Denizio. We’ll see how you feel when they’re pulling YOU over for no reason just to use a portable fingerprint scanner on you, or when they’re sending a drone to peek in at you in the shower. You should bookmark this page and come back to tell us that you ‘had nothing to hide’
March 10, 2011 at 10:09 am
YOU R DEAD ON. BUT LOOK AT SENATE RESOLUTION 21. SINCE THE 1950 S THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN LOOKING INTO OUR DAILY LIVES
March 9, 2011 at 7:27 pm | | Report comment
The Government barely has enough people to track criminals, they are not concerned with law abiding citizens. Even if Law Enforcement happen to see something, and hopefully act on criminal behavior coming a crossed it by chance, it would be no different than a citizen reporting it.
March 9, 2011 at 7:56 pm
But the government has about as much leeway as it wants to call whoever it wants a potential criminal.
March 9, 2011 at 8:55 pm
It must be the will of the voters in Dade Co. If they don’t like it
they can fire any elected official who refuses to end this, next election.
If they don’t, it must not bother them that much. The voters are not
without recourse.
March 9, 2011 at 7:41 pm | | Report comment
Gabriel,
I’m not sure if you had any civic lessons as a child, but this country was not build on mob rule. We have established that we have some inalienable rights that are derived from God and that no man, nor ignorant mob, can take away from us. One of these is the right to be secure in your papers, aka not have your home invaded by the government. The Fore Fathers were smart enough to recognize that such things may “not bother them that much” and that is why we are protected from them and the cheerleaders of the menace of democracy, like you.
March 9, 2011 at 7:56 pm
speaking of firing…I wonder if a sharpshooter could disable this craft with a couple of well placed rounds from the shadows
March 9, 2011 at 9:56 pm
OMG, do you guys live under a rock? Ever heard of FLIR? Google it. Spy satellites maybe? This stuff has been around for years. Maybe a black helicopter is over your house now lol.
March 9, 2011 at 8:17 pm | | Report comment
“The more we do to you, the less you seem to believe we are doing it.” – Joseph Mengele
March 9, 2011 at 8:48 pm | | Report comment
lol watching stupid sitcom’s on the tele worring about cindy lohan now charlie sheen just where the globalists want you wake up ppl
March 9, 2011 at 10:05 pm | | Report comment
OMG this is just gone too dang far it is high time we as US legal cicitzens to back the Governemnt the hell up it all started with Bill Clinton and his right hand man Janet Reno and her invading peoples homes and compounds and killing people . It most likely started earlier but that is the most recent to me and she used every aspect of the Govenment at her disposal to do what she wanted to harm American citizens remeber that little cubana kid it was so scarey even for me and I had nothing to do with it I was just watching the whole thing on TV . This has got to stop and people of Florida vote these people out of office or tell them if they do this they will be out of office.
March 9, 2011 at 10:56 pm | | Report comment
“Privacy” only counts if you’re getting an abortion.
March 10, 2011 at 12:43 am | | Report comment
Police state. The United States has become a police state all the way down to zero tolerance in the class room.
It is by design
March 9, 2011 at 5:36 pm | | Report comment
Black your windows and build roofs over your yards! We have an expectation of privacy EVERYWHERE!
March 9, 2011 at 5:47 pm | | Report comment
AJWhite, is it? You don’t represent or speak on any other individual’s Rights. So, what is your point?
March 9, 2011 at 7:03 pm
Agree with you 100%
March 9, 2011 at 7:17 pm
got that right
March 9, 2011 at 6:04 pm | | Report comment
This happens with a black Democrat in the White House? No way!
“Zero tolerance” of what JJ?
March 9, 2011 at 7:21 pm | | Report comment
It is only zero tolerance in the class room for weapons or drugs. Bad behavior, lack of manners and plain laziness is the norm. Motivate, explain, demonstrate, experiment, lecture and entertain – no matter how you do it the students could care less. These sesame street generations wants to be entertained on demand and compensated for little to no work or effort.
March 10, 2011 at 6:39 am | | Report comment
No sir it is not only weapons or drugs. For instance at the school my mother teaches at a kid was EXPELLED in kindergarden for bringing in a lego who had a toy gun in his hand. Now the kid is in “alternative” school for the rest of his elementry career, for a lego…
These things are everywhere, our police are no longer police they are paramilitary thug squads. Why do they need the same weapons used in Iraq? Why does each cop need a 9mm glock, a remington 870 12 gauge, and a automatic AR-15. Why do they need to be able to fire up to 50 rounds without having to reload a gun? Are we to believe the cities in the U.S. are as dangerous as Iraq? Cops used to just carry .38 specials with 6 rounds…whatever happened to police keeping the peace? Why do cops need backscatter vans that can see into every car, every house, through clothing etc. If I was a woman I would be completely opposed to it all simply because I wouldnt want the sick pieces of human excrement that become cops looking at me with their porno scanners. Why do towns with 8,000 people need swat teams with literal tanks? This country is not that dangerous, in fact from 1995-2005 3200 people were killed by the “Terrorists” these cops are claiming to be protecting us from. During that same period 3,900 people were killed by cops in non-righteous situations (by that I mean the individuals were not endagering the lives of the cops in anyway). You are WAY WAY WAY more likely to be murdered by Cop in this country than by terrorist. Also google cops 5 times more likely to murder than regular citizens. An article was written a few days ago that looked into stats, and its absolutely true. You are 5 times more likely to be murdered by Cop than the people they claim to be protecting you from. Look it up do your research…
March 10, 2011 at 11:50 am
More taxpayer money being used against the people.
March 9, 2011 at 5:37 pm | | Report comment
Well I hope if there is something going on in a dwelling that they will use this to peek in windows before sending the police in. Might save a life.
BK
March 9, 2011 at 5:38 pm | | Report comment
Its what they get paid for..Your tax dollars
March 9, 2011 at 6:03 pm | | Report comment
those who give up liberty for a little security,deservr neither.
March 9, 2011 at 11:08 pm | | Report comment
The only people who don’t like this are the criminals.
March 9, 2011 at 5:39 pm | | Report comment
Wrong! I am not a criminal…I am a retired military officer. These are an afront to our liberty.
March 9, 2011 at 5:46 pm | | Report comment
12 gauge ougt to work nicely on their $50,000 helicopter
March 9, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Thats what birdshot is for!
March 9, 2011 at 6:34 pm
Eyeinsky said – “The only people who don’t like this are the criminals.”
That’s how it starts – “in the best interest of the public” then where does it lead to???? That is what us non criminals are afraid of.
That is like saying go ahead and take away the second amendment because I do not own a gun. It is nearsighted and dangerous.
March 9, 2011 at 5:47 pm | | Report comment
Yeah? I hope you are as understanding if TPTB suspect you of wrong doing and decide to spy on you. I can’t believe that anyone wouldn’t feel like his rights were violated.
March 9, 2011 at 5:48 pm | | Report comment
People who say the only people who don’t like this are criminals exhibit the kind of dim thinking that allows police states to get afoothold. I beg that you study wht happened in Germany in the 30′s and 40′s. Look at the “crimes” that were enacted in that regime that made regular people criminals.
March 9, 2011 at 6:10 pm | | Report comment
Criminal is in the eye of the beholder. Stalin labeled those who didn’t do as he ordered to be criminals. Yes, we are all criminals in the eyes of this government and I, for one, only regret that I have one life to lose for my country.”
March 9, 2011 at 6:39 pm | | Report comment
Spoken like a good police state citizen.
March 10, 2011 at 4:03 am | | Report comment
If they publish the flying schedule we then will be able to moon it.
March 9, 2011 at 5:39 pm | | Report comment
Welcome the new thirdworld hellhole – USA
March 9, 2011 at 5:41 pm | | Report comment
“The MAV is used by the military to scan dangerous areas before troops are sent in.”
Since when do Police need to be equipped like the Military?
March 9, 2011 at 5:41 pm | | Report comment
Your question: Since when do Police need to be equipped like the Military?
Answer: When the criminals have AK47′s. Like TODAY
March 9, 2011 at 6:59 pm | | Report comment
The criminals have always had access to automatic weapons. In fact, 50 years ago they had easy access to crew served weapons, BARs, and artilleriy. Not so today. However, our police never had to be routinley equiped like the military except in our most recent history. Do you think they may be preparing for something other than keeping the peace?
March 9, 2011 at 7:24 pm
Anyone who is okay with this needs to have their head examined. It wont be long before they start using this to catch crime in the act, then potential crime, then just plain old spying on american citizens.
WAKE UP is Right!!!!!!!!!
March 9, 2011 at 5:42 pm | | Report comment
4th amendment….going…..going…..going……gone!
March 9, 2011 at 5:42 pm | | Report comment
I wonder how long it will fly before somebody does a little bird hunting.
March 9, 2011 at 5:43 pm | | Report comment
Just what I was thinkink! Wonder if you’ll be able to call “pull one” or “pull two” Going to be some mighty expensive skeet shooting!
March 9, 2011 at 5:52 pm | | Report comment
exactly what I was thinking. Wait 50 junkyard trash
March 9, 2011 at 8:36 pm | | Report comment
Who are the criminals now with radical feminist Nepalitano and black liberation cult theology adherents Holder and Obama at the top? Patriotic conservative Christians, tea party people, traditionalists, and Republicans?
March 9, 2011 at 5:43 pm | | Report comment
Obama watching you have sex
March 9, 2011 at 5:43 pm | | Report comment
If something is in a yard, no matter how high your fence, helicopters and small plance can see it. People next door can probably see it. Most courts would find that to be in the realm of Plain Sight and therefore not even a search. ACLU guy probably knows that but is trying to misinform the people.
I’d be more concerned if they have it orbitting high-rises and looking in windows.
If they do not do that I see no 4th Amendment issue.
March 9, 2011 at 5:43 pm | | Report comment
If you have a 6 or 8 foot fence then you expect privacy in your backyard — Especially, if you do not have other buildings that allow viewing over your fence. However, an easy way to stop this nonsense is to string high strength monofilament line at different levels (over 8 feet high) around your yard or set up mist nets. They are almost invisible and will serve the purpose .. many people use this technique to keep birds away from their pools and patios — It will do the same with the MAV. Let’s see if the police start using these things as a routine rather than an exception. If it can be abused by the police – it will.
March 9, 2011 at 7:39 pm | | Report comment
microwave it no one will know the better
March 9, 2011 at 8:38 pm
So can they using binoculars to enhance their “view”? What if they instead use zoom lenses? If 2X magnification is 25X ok? How about 100X?
How about using thermal imaging?
Can they use night-vision? After all, your yard may not be “visible from a plane” at night unless they use night-vision.
Backscatter x-ray imaging? (similar to the airport “nude” scanners (now subsequently being deployed at train/bus stations and even mobile vans on roadways. Imagine that…they expanded the usage.))
What about ground-penetrating (and building-penetrating) radar?
By your statement, simply because it’s accessible from some position means that it’s OK to “view” it. They’re using a video camera instead of their eyes, so it’s “fair” to use other vision enhancing technologies, right?
Where does it stop? Who decides if and where it stops? What if any oversight is or will be in place? How effective will it be? etc. etc.
March 10, 2011 at 2:22 am | | Report comment
U.S. government is owned by the people who are following out the protocols of zion aka the real terrorists.
“Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies”
March 9, 2011 at 5:45 pm | | Report comment
Step 1: appear innocuous to all but “criminals” or rationalize in any way necessary to establish a foothold
Step 2: neuter dissent through lip service law or engineer an external threat
Step 3: if step #2 does not work attack via false flag
Step 4: raise the stakes repadting step 1 – 3 over and over again
March 9, 2011 at 5:45 pm | | Report comment
sorry hank but as a gun owner and an NRA member but you sound like you need some meds. please lock yourself in a padded room.
March 9, 2011 at 5:46 pm | | Report comment
Uh, sorry Howard….you must have been asleep when firearms were confiscated after the hurricane passed thru NO ‘eh?
March 9, 2011 at 6:59 pm | | Report comment
Your a zombie Howard. Your going to get a rude awakening very soon from the police state that installed itself right under your nose. YOU DESERVER EVERTHING THATS GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU!!
March 9, 2011 at 7:20 pm | | Report comment
You’re the one in need of some SEVERE deprogramming!!! PROVE HIM WRONG! Problem is…you CAN’T! It’s people like you who keep America locked in a prison-planet! He left a link for you…so, go…take a step into the rabbit-hole! Moron!
March 9, 2011 at 7:31 pm | | Report comment
Ohh lord we are becoming a nazi republican police just like israhell.
March 9, 2011 at 5:46 pm | | Report comment
No, Juan, it appears the Democrat controlled Dade is becoming the police state.
March 9, 2011 at 9:14 pm | | Report comment
THE GOVERNMINT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 9, 2011 at 5:47 pm | | Report comment
You may not be doing anything against the law now. But, wait until they pass a law you don’t want to follow. For example, no meat to be prepared or eaten on Mondays, no more than one car per person in a household, no more than two persons to a bedroom. Does that sound far fetched? Then you haven’t been paying attention.
March 9, 2011 at 5:47 pm | | Report comment
dIDJA HEAR THE ONE ABOUT THE FREE COUNTRY? yAH, ME EITHER.
March 9, 2011 at 5:47 pm | | Report comment
I am moving to Cuba..Damn Police state.
March 9, 2011 at 5:48 pm | | Report comment
please do. if you think we live in a police state now, go to cuba, where they openly welcome you to post asinine complaints about the government on a public forum.
Ask to visit el paredon.
March 9, 2011 at 6:09 pm | | Report comment
How would a bright green laser effect the cameras? I imagine the see through-houses gear is RF. What would the focused RF from a microwave oven do?
March 9, 2011 at 5:49 pm | | Report comment
>What would the focused RF from a microwave oven do?
GET YOU ARRESTED. jUST SAYIN’
March 9, 2011 at 5:52 pm | | Report comment
What if your wife is sunbathing in the back yard or you are getting intimate in the pool or hot tub – and you’ve designed your property to have privacy from neighbors. What the hell people? Do you now have to have an enclosed back yard to enjoy privacy!!!!!!?????
March 9, 2011 at 5:49 pm | | Report comment
Nets are cheap. If they want their $50K toy back, they’re going to have to show me the warrant.
“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.”
March 9, 2011 at 5:56 pm | | Report comment
The Courts ruled years ago that if you have the propensity to commit a crime, the police do not need a search warrant. Propensity defined as “an inclination or natural tendency to behave in a particular way.” Some DA’s have placed pre-signed warrants on fax-by-demand for the police.
If you check, the right to privacy is not in the Constitution. It has been inferred by the Bill of Rights through jurisprudence by the 3rd, 4th and 5th amendments. So just remember the courts can giveth and taketh away.
Have you ever bothered to read a police report? I have seen some that are pure fiction, which is why you should always invoke your right to remain silence. Most police don’t even have a college education so by talking to them, you can cause yourself to be open to their literary interpretation even if you are totally innocent. They get rated based on arrest. So keeping silent is not a sign of guilt, it is a sign of intelligence.
March 10, 2011 at 7:11 am | | Report comment
What if a hunter farmer, hunter, person with pets thought it was a hawk going after their pets or livestock.
I shoot preditors I know can and have injured my livestock.
March 9, 2011 at 5:57 pm | | Report comment
If it’s close enough to see, you’ll hear it. It’s like a chainsaw on steroids.
March 9, 2011 at 11:33 pm | | Report comment
“What happens when they fly over backyards and they see something without a warrant that they want to take against,” said ACLU Executive Director Howard Simon.
That question, as Simon well knows, has already been addressed by SCotUS. And, if he didn’t know that, he’s too incompetent to hold that position.
March 9, 2011 at 5:57 pm | | Report comment
Obam is a domestic enemy of the constitution,and people of the United States, but this matter doesn’t demonstrate it.
Actions that you should look to to support the proposition that we have elected a domestic enemy POTUS include:
His behavior of late re: the Egyptian revolt. The British papers say the administration was behind it. Putting that aside, note he threw our close alllie of 30 years under the bus in two minutes flat. Everybody who understands the area knows there is about an 80% chance that the new government is going to be dominated by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic Fundamentalist, terrorist supporting entity. But Obama tossed our allie to help the islamists?
His behavior re: the Iranian uprising in ’09? and his behavior in the Libian uprising against his Minister’s friend Kaddafy. Both times he has draggeed his feet and not pressured two wild dog regimes to step down. Remember Mubarak (allie), he was gone in no time, but for the radical islamofacist regimes he is playing with his putter.
Remember listen to what he says and compare it to what he does, you’ll soon see just about everything he says is a lie.
Remember, the enemy holds the White House. Pray for America
March 9, 2011 at 5:59 pm | | Report comment
Your ignorance knows no bounds. Do you get all of your disinformation from Fauxnews and Liebart, or are they beamed directly into your head by Glenn Beckerhead?
March 9, 2011 at 7:16 pm | | Report comment
somebody should fly one of these around the cop clubhouse and see how they like it, not much I bet.
March 9, 2011 at 6:00 pm | | Report comment
“No knock warrents” were originally only to be used against drug dealers and in case of kidnappings. They are now being used for serving citations.
“Asset forfiture” was originally only to be used in case of drug cases. Now it’s used for many other things.
Do I need to name more?
March 9, 2011 at 6:01 pm | | Report comment
Sounds like a blast for target practice from your patio!
March 9, 2011 at 6:03 pm | | Report comment
If this is a banned book, why is it available for purchase?
March 9, 2011 at 6:03 pm | | Report comment
More importantly, who “banned” it /why was it “banned” & under what authority is/was it “banned”???
March 9, 2011 at 6:58 pm | | Report comment
No one with an open window has a reasonable expectation of privacy.
March 9, 2011 at 6:03 pm | | Report comment
My kids will never know the country I grew up in. See ya later USA.
March 9, 2011 at 6:03 pm | | Report comment
Cuba will never do anything like that.
Metro Dade Mayor Alvarez is trying to intimidate Citizens into voting against his recall.
Recall Alvarez, Unseat Obummer and sweep Congress of them parasites!!
March 9, 2011 at 6:05 pm | | Report comment
FREEDOM is not TAKEN
it is GIVEN UP.
March 9, 2011 at 6:05 pm | | Report comment
When we talk about the war on this and the war on that, and police officers see themselves as soldiers,as in the ever increasing use of SWAT teams, then the civilian becomes the enemy.
I can imagine where a anti-drone device will be made to easily disable these things while in flight.If its radio controlled,anything is possible.
March 9, 2011 at 6:06 pm | | Report comment
The radio commands are encrypted and probably spread-spectrum but if you can hit it with a focused RF pulse powerful enough to swamp the front end of its receiver, it will crash.
March 9, 2011 at 11:32 pm | | Report comment
How is this any different than a police helicopter, Police having busting criminals with overflights, and grow houses for decades.
This is total overreaction, these are piloted drones, and they can only be up for a limited time. AS they article states they are used in active police scenes, and probably during pursuits. No different then when a bad guy jumps your fence, the police already have the right to go where they need in pursuit.
Drudge overdid the headline here.
Liberty Lover here, but there is no issue with these drones,.
March 9, 2011 at 6:06 pm | | Report comment
You are not up to speed on UAVs — police departments are getting long duration drones similar to predators as well as, the short duration mini drones. They are in the process of developing micro drones and smaller. This is just setting the trend and public acceptance as the systems are first used as an exception then as a routine. Cities will soon have a multi-layered surveillance grid of permanently stationed airborne sensors combined space based systems and ground surveillance systems tied into a data fusion and analysis center. This is the future ….. welcome to the technology driven police state – doesn’t it make you feel safe?
March 9, 2011 at 7:57 pm | | Report comment
Then some will be raised to become police officers and others will be raised to be their sustenance, some to be their pray. Your lucky guess which will be raised to be whom. The funny thing is that the grant to the police is to be given with free money, that money being printed today. Freedom is free money now. Everything for free for us Americans. What’s unconstitutional is mortgaging the future for those who have not even been born. What an amazing country we have turned to be.
March 9, 2011 at 8:13 pm
Ever heard of the 4th Amendment!!!!
This will not FLY!
March 9, 2011 at 6:06 pm | | Report comment
Smash the nanny state. Starve the beast.
March 9, 2011 at 6:08 pm | | Report comment
Surveillance systems with free money. High speed trains with free money. Big government and wars with free money being printed daily by the millions. Everything for free in the land of the not so free as we might like to think.
March 9, 2011 at 8:19 pm | | Report comment
Remember how lead is so bad for everyone. Well guess what can block out all this watching equipment? Now you know why lead was made out to be so bad and outlawed from household paint. Big brother cannot watch you.. Go back to sleep America and the next time you wake up slavery will be back.
March 9, 2011 at 6:08 pm | | Report comment
Slavery is already here when the people allow the government to provide goodies and jobs with FREE MONEY and for free.
March 9, 2011 at 8:21 pm | | Report comment
Americans have no clue that once you give Government 1 inch they want 2 and so on.
We lost our Freedom long time ago,All big cities have cameras all over.
The ones who used to say that they have nothing to hide will have a rude awakening when eventually Police will be able to knock their doors down without a warrant.
March 9, 2011 at 6:09 pm | | Report comment
“knock their doors down without a warrant”
To tell you where you will have to go to work and where you will have to go to live and what will be your allotment of gas and food during your stay.
March 9, 2011 at 8:26 pm | | Report comment
see DunnyVeg, very first post…. Perfect reply.,
March 9, 2011 at 6:09 pm | | Report comment
Just shoot the thing down, you are already being peusued by the swat team……
March 9, 2011 at 6:09 pm | | Report comment
And we are just supposed to take their word that they will only use it under certain circumstances. Whatever!
March 9, 2011 at 6:11 pm | | Report comment
In Soviet Amerika, YOU are criminal!
March 9, 2011 at 6:11 pm | | Report comment
And the children the payees.
March 9, 2011 at 8:28 pm | | Report comment
Dear concerned,
nice try.
Conservatives really do know how to spell.
Try again later.
March 9, 2011 at 6:12 pm | | Report comment
@Jimmy
Sadly, we have few politicians with the spine to RID this nation of the scrouge you describe. More and more, I’ve about had it and may decide to emigrate someplace where doctors are reasonable, where food additives and additives to the water supply are rare or non-existent, and where people have kept a portion of their ssnity instead of trying to either bully themselves or their kids’ nonsense on their neighbors. If you have much $$, it could be expensive thanks to the HEARTS Act. Such unconstitutional garbage that will eventually be challenged to the Courts when enough of us have finally had it.
March 9, 2011 at 6:13 pm | | Report comment
This story is a red herring designed to get people to focus on a non-issue, instead of focusing on the real Anti-American acts Obama and his coconspirators are undertaking.
27 Unvetted, unaccountable, czars acting as a shadow govermnemt.
Administration that ignores Fedral courts when it suites them to do so.
Administration that prosecutes and defends cases based on if the littigants support them (New Black Panthers and Defending the DOMA act)
Nationalizing the Student loan business.
Nationalizing the home lending business.
Obama’s world appology tour
Obama still has ties to domestic terrorist Bill Ayers
Obama Pushing through STARTII (with I will admit, 7 Moron Republicansn help)
I could go on but I gotta run.
Pray that America can Survive the enemy in the White HOuse.
March 9, 2011 at 6:14 pm | | Report comment
@ Jimmy – its obvious you are extremely ignorant, i feel sorry for you.
March 9, 2011 at 6:15 pm | | Report comment
that aclu director as usual is complete moron.
What happens when the police are in a tall building and can overlook a neighborhood, or when they are pursuing a criminal into a random home, or when they are in a helicopter and overfly your back yard.
There is years of case law on this. This drone will do nothing.
Now when the cops get xray scanners that can see through walls I will worry, But there is no expecation of privacy in your back yard or through your window. If your neighbor can see so can a cop.
Florida v. Riley, 488 U.S. 445 (1989)[1], was a United States Supreme Court decision which held that police officials do not need a warrant to observe an individual’s property from public airspace.
March 9, 2011 at 6:16 pm | | Report comment
Exactly. People are idiots.
March 9, 2011 at 6:33 pm | | Report comment
“Now when the cops get xray scanners that can see through walls I will worry,”
The cops do already have that. They can’t use it to look for crime. As you already stated, lots of case law already forbids it.
March 9, 2011 at 7:03 pm | | Report comment
And yet they still pay millions for the technology, even though its inadmissable in court. Seems to me people should see exactly what they are doing with it then, collecting information on citizens so that when IT happens (whatever it they are planning) they can round up anyone they profiles as being a possible disenter.
March 10, 2011 at 12:06 pm
@Luis,
Start worrying.
“Through-wall” ‘vision’ technology is ALREADY available and soon capable of widespread deployment/purchase. Due to high cost it will likely be subsidized with federal tax dollars for local police/sheriff departments.
There are RF and backscatter x-ray implementations. Scientists are also working with other technologies to perform the same function with lower costs, greater portability, better countermeasures resistance, and higher data resolving capabilities.
———————————-
“Now when the cops get xray scanners that can see through walls I will worry,”
March 10, 2011 at 5:01 am | | Report comment
@Luis – “Now when the cops get xray scanners that can see through walls I will worry.”
I guess you have not read about the roving back scatter or heat signature vans for surveillance on streets. Even our sheriff’s department got one in a small town of 10K.
So start worrying.
March 10, 2011 at 7:27 am | | Report comment
Welcome to 1984 in 2011 long live BIG BROTHER!
March 9, 2011 at 6:17 pm | | Report comment
Since the police will be so secure now not having to go into any situation with risk… well, maybe they should be put on minimum wage too. What’s good for the goose…. Or, at the very minimum take the cost of this tool out of their paychecks.
March 9, 2011 at 6:21 pm | | Report comment
We need to turn the camera’s on the politicians and police chief’s who think this is a good idea.
March 9, 2011 at 6:21 pm | | Report comment
People should be happy the police have this capability to assist them in protecting the public. Of course liberals will say, “Aw I don’t want them peeping in my window!” Well, dummy, close the blinds!!
March 9, 2011 at 6:22 pm | | Report comment
This is madness. We have seen time and again “It is not intended” means absolutely NOTHING. If I’m driving down the road and strike someone, will my excuse, “I didn’t intend to hit the person” save me from consequences? No.
OK – so here’s a proposal. IF these drones are EVER used by ANYONE, intended or not, in a way that violates anyone’s civil rights, the manufacturer, all of its employees – down to the janitor – every politician and bureaucrat who supports it, etc. – every one of them – spends a year in jail and is fined $100,000. And before they can be deployed, the police chief has to put up a surety bond of $1,000,000 that he will PERSONALLY LOSE if the drones are misused in any way.
How about that? Get some skin in the game of violating my rights and then ask me to put up with the intrusion.
March 9, 2011 at 6:25 pm | | Report comment
Slingshot practice!
March 9, 2011 at 6:28 pm | | Report comment
The police in Hawaii have been doing this for decades with helicopters when raiding marijuana grown on private property, its called Operation Green Harvest. They fly over, see it and direct ground operations to move in. If they can see something from the air with a drone or helicopter they don’t really need a warrant.
March 9, 2011 at 6:29 pm | | Report comment
@James,
As I understand it, if they are going to fly over PRIVATE property to investigate POSSIBLE illegal activity, they have to FIRST have probable cause with reliable information that marijuana activity is already occurring on that SPECIFIC property and get a search warrant for that property and for that over-flight. I doubt they can just spend the day flying around randomly while specifically looking at private property for such activity.
However, I’m sure it gets “gray area” if they “happen to see” what seems to be illegal activity in a nearby property while they are looking at another.
March 10, 2011 at 5:13 am | | Report comment
Sounds like the bad guys need to invent a GI joe size anti-aircraft gun maned by trained hampsters or a pen size s.a.m missle…
March 9, 2011 at 6:33 pm | | Report comment
I am listening to The Alan Parson Project “Eye in the Sky” as I read this…
March 9, 2011 at 6:34 pm | | Report comment
I think it is one thing to have these in an active war zone, were you have military controllers overseeing the entire field of activity. It is quite another thing to have these flying around competing with other aircraft, general aviation, commercial activities, news gathering, etc.. Who is going to take responsibility when a plane or helicopter goes down as a result of hitting a drone?
March 9, 2011 at 6:36 pm | | Report comment
So can I create a no-fly zone above my home and use my trusty shotgun to take that thing down?
March 9, 2011 at 6:39 pm | | Report comment
Hank, you obviously need a copy of the Constitution. It appears you haven’t consulted it since the sixth grade. Sure you are all about keeping and bearing arms, being an NRA member and all. But, Hank, the second amendment isn’t the only one added to the constitution. You are a sad sack.
March 9, 2011 at 6:39 pm | | Report comment
Your the sad sack SKIP COOK! You just love being a slave to the new world order dont you. YOu love being robbed and conquored by bankers dont you! Just wait until the police state comes for you. YOu deserve everybit of what happens
March 9, 2011 at 7:22 pm | | Report comment
Skip Cook…You’re the one in need of a pocket Constitution! Just like I told your ol’ budy, Howard…it’s people like YOU who are keeping good, hard-working Americans enslaved in this prison-planet! Trust me…it won’t serve you well to be on “their” side! You’ll end up like everyone else…broke, enslaved, or worse…dead!
I just don’t get how you morons can remain SO oblivious to the TRUTH around you! Do you REALLY see yourself as a “free American”? Let me ask you…are you better off today than you were 10 years ago?
And, another thing…you people who think you can’t “CHANGE” anything because you’re just “ONE” person…you need to STOP thinking in those terms! Either we hang TOGETHER OR we hang SEPARATELY!
Get it? Got it? GOOD!
March 9, 2011 at 7:46 pm | | Report comment
You’ll note here, as in all cases, that the ACLU always sides with the criminals.
It is high time to cut off all government funding of the ACLU, and reverse its tax-exempt status.
March 9, 2011 at 6:42 pm | | Report comment
The ACLU may be a necessary evil, because how many of you have ever fought for a cause and won. I don’t always agree with them, because they are too liberal for me, but in some cases I have agreed with them. Look at how many innocent people have been released after spending decades in prison for something they did not do. It was groups like the ACLU and Innocent Project that have taken up some good fights, while many stayed home and did nothing.
You need to read Caroline Kennedy’s book on Constitutional cases. It is a good read and makes you realize that contrary to popular belief, there are some good lawyers.
March 10, 2011 at 7:45 am | | Report comment
This is the latest chapter of the militarization of police departments. From machine guns to tanks and helicopters, the latest craze is the lust for spy drones. Cameras everywhere, of course, and now in the skies. But it’s for your own good.
March 9, 2011 at 6:44 pm | | Report comment
@jimmy:
“First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.”
A government that invades the rights of some will eventually invade the rights of all.
March 9, 2011 at 6:45 pm | | Report comment
Why in the hell would an officer need to know if a homeowner has a shed in their backyard? How many officers have been killed by those dangerous sheds that officers were not aware of? The obvious answer is that this machine is intended for no such things.
March 9, 2011 at 6:48 pm | | Report comment
They think it’s because someone could be hiding in the shed, or it could contain a weapons cache or be booby-trapped, or the gardening shed could contain terrorism supplies like fertilizer and fuel, or it could contain a get-away lawn tractor
March 10, 2011 at 5:24 am | | Report comment
I’m pretty sure they arrest peeping toms, because it’s a crime!!!!!
March 9, 2011 at 6:50 pm | | Report comment
If you give them a power, they will find more ways to use it. See today’s story about DHS running a web site sting operation. And the TARP bailout now has its own police force as well.
And the icing on the cake is, my identity was stolen by a Miami Dade employee using their Choicepoint system.
Thanks, I feel secure now.
March 9, 2011 at 6:51 pm | | Report comment
The feds will soon be using these to see if you’re using incandescent light bulbs.
March 9, 2011 at 6:52 pm | | Report comment
@Bill,
That’s easy to determine. All they need is a pair of commercially sold wireless IR headphones. If they point the headphone’s IR sensor at a window, and it does NOT emit a “buzzing” sound (produced by the optical interference of the ~20KHz optical output of CFLs with the headphone’s IR sensor), then you must be using incandescent bulbs (which don’t produce that optical signal).
Or…they could simply monitor the radio signals coming from your house. Again, if they do NOT see an ~20KHz radio signal coming from a lit room, then it’s not using a CFL bulb.
Both those detection methods are easy and dirt cheap to make. I could probably sell them a $10 “illegal bulb” detector for at least $25,000 or so, don’t ya think?
March 10, 2011 at 5:34 am | | Report comment
Lol…. Only in America….Think back 3o to 40 year ago it would only happen Russia/Cuba. Oh well at least we got a great leader to protect us.
March 9, 2011 at 6:53 pm | | Report comment
Cry me a river you ACLU babies. Who gives a damn if it flies over and sees you. If you’ve got nothing to hide, no worries. David is right, you cry about it but if it’s your butt on the line then by all means use it….right?? Cops don’t get paid to get killed Kris you moron!!
March 9, 2011 at 6:55 pm | | Report comment
We care, because more cops than not are corrupt. The cops looking the other way are no better, because they are complicit by their silence.
I am a law abiding citizen living in the methamphetamine county capital of our state and have stories that would fill a book. By arming our police forces with military weaponry, the U.S. is following in the foot steps of Mexico and we all know how well that is going – NOT!
Tell me why state and local law enforcement don’t have to take periodic lie detector tests? These tests may not be perfect, but it is a start and at least they are doing it in Mexico. It just doesn’t make sense to up the ante in the name of justice to allegedly protect and serve when law enforcement themselves is part of the problem.
We had a local cop under investigation by the feds due to unexplained wealth, who was promoted to special investigator by the DA. He died and they wrote him up in the paper like he was a hero.
I once dated a cop that showed up with my background check on the first date. Even though it was clean, I felt violated. It was our only date and later I found out he was married. He eventually divorced and married his babysitter, whom he was carrying on an affair with since she was 15. He is still on the force.
I could go on and on, but this is a blog not a book.
March 10, 2011 at 8:17 am | | Report comment
These things will make for excellent target practice!
March 9, 2011 at 7:00 pm | | Report comment
A way to ticket/ fine you if u don’t have a dog license or a pool permit….
March 9, 2011 at 7:00 pm | | Report comment
Anyone that defends spying on citizens in any way is an idiotic. And here i thought many leftists are geeks obsessed with science fiction and so forth. Guess it’s all okey dokey when done by the party you foolishly support what with your inflated egos and all.
March 9, 2011 at 7:03 pm | | Report comment
“Why did you shoot it with a 12 gauge shotgun?”
“I thought it was an alien from outer space trying to get in my window.”
March 9, 2011 at 7:03 pm | | Report comment
The cops ought to post an MAV outside the ACLU offices permanently.
And another one outside the living room of ACLU Executive Director Howard “THE WEANIIE” Simon ( I have no desire to know what goes on in an ACLU bedroom )
March 9, 2011 at 7:04 pm | | Report comment
They better not fly it too low! The SOB might get shot down!
March 9, 2011 at 7:05 pm | | Report comment
I feel so safe now
March 9, 2011 at 7:07 pm | | Report comment
POLICE STATE. These will make good shotgun targets. Start shooting skeet so you won’t miss when the time comes.
March 9, 2011 at 7:07 pm | | Report comment
I find it so funny people think Cuba is such a totalitarian state… Listen folks… You won’t find street cameras in EVERY DAMN corner there; nor do they fly drones over most major cities; nor do they intercept and record ALL phone calls, emails, and other communications. Additionally, they don’t start wars with sovereign countries on a continuous basis. For the most part, that government doesn’t poison the food and water with GMO garbage and fluoride. It’s 1935 Germany all-over again… right here in good-ole AMERIKA (yes, with a K now!) LOL Who are we kidding… They (the government) watch us, track us, tag us, and will soon BAG US! Cuba has a horrible, muderous government… But it makes ours appear tame by comparison.
March 9, 2011 at 7:08 pm | | Report comment
You want to see what’s in their back yard? Try Google Maps on satellite view. Beyond that, if it buzzes low enough over my house, it’ll get shot down…think SKEET. I have enough of this police state crap…time to start fighting back
March 9, 2011 at 7:09 pm | | Report comment
I’ll complain the minute they can see up the site of my regular poop shot examinations. Yikes, if that happens Mr. Obama is toast!
March 9, 2011 at 7:11 pm | | Report comment
I spit on them
March 9, 2011 at 7:11 pm | | Report comment
I’ll complain the minute they can see up the site of my regular poop shoot examinations. Yikes, if that happens Mr. Obama is toast!
March 9, 2011 at 7:11 pm | | Report comment
Once again it appears the the 4th Amendment is being ignored by the government. If upon getting a warrant based upon probable cause covering all the airspace to be utilized and structures and properties to be scanned would it be constitutional.
March 9, 2011 at 7:12 pm | | Report comment
You don’t want the police watching you snort drain cleaner and taking anti depressants you need cause they feel bad about being afraid all the time. If you’d stop blaming others for what’s wrong with your life, you wouldn’t be afraid that they might harm you, and you wouldn’t need an assault rifle collection or give a damn if the police watched you in the bathtub.
March 9, 2011 at 7:13 pm | | Report comment
30.06 deer rifle, 8X power scope, dead drone. What’s the problem???
March 9, 2011 at 7:14 pm | | Report comment
see inside houses??? so they can peep in on their sister getting done by the husband.
March 9, 2011 at 7:14 pm | | Report comment
Dude. Seriously?
March 9, 2011 at 7:18 pm | | Report comment
It’s nothing that a properly used 12 gauge loaded with with bird shot can’t fix.
March 9, 2011 at 7:19 pm | | Report comment
We need a camera that detects illegal immigrants.
March 9, 2011 at 7:20 pm | | Report comment
@Mike…
HEY!!!
QUIT PROFILING! That’s a violation of their rights.
March 10, 2011 at 5:41 am | | Report comment
Well no more sex in the pool, or else it will be on youtube
March 9, 2011 at 7:20 pm | | Report comment
I am encouraged in reading the comments tonight. Most of the comments are AGAINST an intruding Government. The Feds, and evermnore the Locals, are constantly increasing their control. Are they mad with power or paranoid? Maybe both. I say Enough Is Enough. From communist Obama on down, prepare yourselves. Vote the scum out. Save money, store food and get weapons and ammo. Embrace consevatism. We must exterminate communism and radical islam to save the country- your country.
March 9, 2011 at 7:23 pm | | Report comment
can’t wait for it to invade my air space, I’ll use my antiaircraft lead to knock it down
March 9, 2011 at 7:24 pm | | Report comment
Judas Priest’s “Electric Eye” comes to mind:
I am perpetual
I keep the country clean
I’m elected electric spy
I’m protected electric eye
March 9, 2011 at 7:25 pm | | Report comment
Fake
March 9, 2011 at 7:25 pm | | Report comment
When & where do we show up to have our bar codes tatatooed on our foreheads?
March 9, 2011 at 7:26 pm | | Report comment
First we need to get the national ID card (a tracking device) to warm us up to the notion of being implanted with a microchip (kind of like they do with Canadian geese. The populace of this country is almost sufficiently dumbed down, overworked, overstressed and drugged out to fall for it.
March 9, 2011 at 8:02 pm | | Report comment
While America rushes around the world to restore human rights to others, their own are being taken away. When are the people here going to rise up and take back their country from the big contibutors to special interest groups that will keep the average citizaen in poverty? Forget lLibya, Egypt and elsewhere, why will put up with viideo cameras on drones peering into yout privates?
Maybe another revolution is needed to get us back on the the right track!
March 9, 2011 at 7:28 pm | | Report comment
So I guess when all of you need (or more likely demand) law enforcement respond instantly when any of you are in need of law enforcment help – you’ ll be ok with their using more traditional methods to gather necessary intelligence before putting their officers in harms way, perhaps hours of surveillance rather than minutes?
That’s what I thought.
A lack of education and ability to think rationally and independently is a dangerous thing.
March 9, 2011 at 7:32 pm | | Report comment
the OINKERS get a new toy… that makes them feel sooo powerful Big F Deal !!!!
March 9, 2011 at 7:35 pm | | Report comment
If people give up their freedom in exchange for security- they desever neither!
March 9, 2011 at 7:37 pm | | Report comment
Yep, Money is no object when someone else is paying!
March 9, 2011 at 7:38 pm | | Report comment
Right, exactly. A 50 K toy with free money coming to them for free like the high speed rail between Orlando and Tampa and everything else the government is doing this days. A now chocolate will be 50 dollars for a milky way and a gallon of gas 100 dollars, who cares is all free money. No food for you or for you. Just for those in government.
March 9, 2011 at 8:40 pm | | Report comment
I can tell the dems are screaming – can you imagine what they would be saying if this was Bush?
March 9, 2011 at 7:39 pm | | Report comment
I can’t believe the people of Miami/Dade are willing to put up with this kinds of invasive snooping. The police need to grow some stones here…if your job is classified as dangerous, then dangerous it is. A flying spybot to snoop on taxpayers because you are afraid to send in the swat then maybe it’s time to take up knitting, or some other low impact activity
March 9, 2011 at 7:41 pm | | Report comment
They are already sampling toilet waste to cancer screen the tagged loads. This should not surprise anyone. OOOOOO Miami has all the fun.
March 9, 2011 at 7:41 pm | | Report comment
yeah
March 9, 2011 at 7:43 pm | | Report comment
pigkiller loves FBI, NSA, CIA, BATEF,DHS……………. they’ll get paid and that’s all that matters.
March 9, 2011 at 7:44 pm | | Report comment
Why does it take 6 months for FAA approval???
March 9, 2011 at 7:46 pm | | Report comment
Because the FAA doesn’t know how easily these crash in a crosswind. If Honeywell gave them the real facts, it would NEVER get FAA approval. My guess is that it’s taking 6 months to bribe everyone at the top of the FAA.
March 9, 2011 at 11:19 pm | | Report comment
my reply “it’s spelled you’re not your and your an idiot.” was for the brilliant analyst who wrote “if your not a criminal why worry about it.”
March 9, 2011 at 7:46 pm | | Report comment
Only the ACLU would be worried about what if they see something in a neighbors yard they didn’t intend to see. You mean like a neighbor peaking over the fence or the police helicopter flying overhead? My question is why spend 50K of our tax money when they already have a helicopter?? What a waste and once again the general public is fed up with stuff like this.
March 9, 2011 at 7:46 pm | | Report comment
Those who are willing to give up their freedom for security deserve neither!
March 9, 2011 at 7:48 pm | | Report comment
The Book, 1984, was only about 30 years off…
March 9, 2011 at 7:49 pm | | Report comment
if this saves just one child… you’re against kids if you’re this invasion of your privacy……… gotta go watch reality TV, sports, American Idol which is more important and feeds my brain way more than this.
March 9, 2011 at 7:49 pm | | Report comment
We could loose our freedom under the guise of “safety”. Buy food to last a year and prepare to defend what you hold dear. The left is coming for YOU!
March 9, 2011 at 7:53 pm | | Report comment
“They want to know if there are dogs in the backyard, if there is a shed, things that could be a threat to us.”
That’s too funny. WTF does one expect in a back yard? Why not forget about drones and do what you do best – shooting citizens and later claiming you feared for your safety before departing on paid administrative vacation.
March 9, 2011 at 7:54 pm | | Report comment
Certainly some apologists for the creeping police can say how if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about.
Right…. because tyranny usually comes in one giant leap and not incrementally.
March 9, 2011 at 8:00 pm | | Report comment
I remember in the 80′s, when communism was seen as the US’s greatest threat, we were constantly bombarded with news, movies, stories, etc, about how insidious and repressive soviet countries were. We were told about how people would disappear and never seen from again (Guantanamo), that the government arbitrarily spied on it’s citizens (NSA), that its citizens would rat each other out outta fear (DHS), that the police didn’t need a warrant or reason to arrest citizens (Patriot Act), that their news outlets were really government propoganda outlets (MSNM) and I remember thinking I’d hate to live there, thank God for our freedom, country.
Then the Soviets fell.
Now I look at our country and wonder how we’re any different?
March 9, 2011 at 8:00 pm | | Report comment
We’re not. Obama is just another Brezhnev! Black power! (Even though Obama is basically white)
March 9, 2011 at 8:11 pm | | Report comment
What happens when someone shoots down the drone? With all of those drug runners down there, you’d think at least one of them had the weaponry of Tony Montana.
March 9, 2011 at 8:01 pm | | Report comment
I pledge Allegiance to the Flag
of the United Globe of Corporations
and to the Greed for which it stands,
all nations under control, being divisible,
by Tyranny and Slavery for all.
March 9, 2011 at 8:03 pm | | Report comment
This is what you get for voting the Liberal Democrats in and letting them stay in for so many years. They gave you some hand outs, but now they will take away all your privacy and freedom.
March 9, 2011 at 8:04 pm | | Report comment
TIME FOR RIFLE PRACTICE
March 9, 2011 at 8:17 pm | | Report comment
No law as far as I know for shooting down UFO’s. If you see one … shoot it down!
March 9, 2011 at 8:26 pm | | Report comment
They don’t “intend” to look into people houses… just like they never intended to use the seatbelt law as a primary stopping offense.
When will the masses learn? Give them an inch, and they take a mile…
March 9, 2011 at 8:43 pm | | Report comment
At $50,000 a pop I wonder how many of those spy bots they can afford to replace when citizens decide enough is enough and shoot them out of the sky?
March 9, 2011 at 8:48 pm | | Report comment
Maybe they can fly it over bedrooms and film some good porn!
March 9, 2011 at 9:00 pm | | Report comment
A Well placed shot from an armed citizen would take it down.
March 9, 2011 at 9:13 pm | | Report comment
If enough people hit the down button on their garage door openers at once, it will dive into the Everglades.
March 9, 2011 at 9:21 pm | | Report comment
Where’s the ACLU on this one? I say somebody with enough dough ought to offer a reward to the first person to shoot the damn thing out of the skiy. Watch their $50K toy break into pieces. Then defend this all the way to the Supreme Court. Cuban Americans in Miami should be scared for their civil liberties and freedom. Why aren’t they demanding the Police Chief be fired. They will abuse their power and perform warrant-less surveillance regardless of what they say in the public. I say shoot the damn thing out of the sky and let the city sue.
March 9, 2011 at 9:23 pm | | Report comment
I’d probably hit it with a bat or shoot it down. Just saying. If you out back and you see a huge insect coming at you, what’s the normal reaction?
March 9, 2011 at 9:38 pm | | Report comment
The greatest enemy of Americans today is NOT the government that passes all these unconsitutional laws…..its the cops , who after taking an oath to defend our consitution and our rights, repeatedly choose to abuse the power we entrusted them and enforce these same illegal laws through brute force on the very citizenry who pays their salary. Well, the sooner we run out of money, the sooner they will crawl back into their traitorous dens. Without criminals, they have no jobs. Therefore they eagerly make more and more of us cr5iminals everyday. There is a tipping point. If I was a cop, I would reboot my brain and try to remember who I serve and keep faith with the consitution before they wake up one day and realize we no longer have one. Unless that changes, I predict things will get uglier here than in Libya. And just like libya, the tyrants there enforce their will using the military and the police. I wonder what happens to the cops in Libya when Gaddafdi loses? They probably throw off their uniforms and beg to join the people. I wonder if that will work out for them?
March 9, 2011 at 9:41 pm | | Report comment
Fools. You give away more information on Facebook today than this thing could obtain through your window. Close your freakin curtains.
March 9, 2011 at 9:51 pm | | Report comment
I wonder how many of the morons posting negative comments are police officers or support the police or have family that are police officers. How many of you have had to serve a warrant and go through a door without knowing what was waiting for you on the other side (like John Q with the 30-30?) or even have the balls to do it? Oh…wait…I know…0! If you did, you wouldn’t be talking so much trash. Having real time intel saves lives. That’s why the military uses RPVs and that’s why the police want to use them. Police keep us safe and I, personally, would like to see little Johnny’s daddy come home from work in one piece, after serving a warrant, to play softball and hold his son one more day.
March 9, 2011 at 10:19 pm | | Report comment
Hell Joe, why don’t we just put cameras in everyone’s homes so the cops will be safer? I fully support our brave cops but when does the ever increasing intrusion on people’s privacy stop?
March 9, 2011 at 11:08 pm | | Report comment
Moderndayburnout, ExSophus, If you bother to actually read the story, they’re talking about using the RPVs at ALREADY ESTABLISHED POLICE SCENES where SRT/SWAT/ESU units are being sent in. At that point, they don’t need and may not have enough time to get ANOTHER warrant to deploy an RPV. Yes, the current administration is taking unprecedented measures to intrude on our lives and control us but it’s not through RPVs, it’s through legislation that forces us to buy things (bad health care legislation opens the door for that) and controls the way we manage our lives (TARP, “Green Energy” proposals) and their obvious refusal to secure our borders or deal with the illegal immigration issue and terrorism (they won’t even call obvious terrorist attacks terrorist attacks). Step back, look at the big picture and, most importantly, TRY to engage the synapses between your ears to focus on what’s REALLY important and needs addressing. The police, if being used as many posting comments here fear, are ultimately, are merely tools for any administration. The administration sets the agenda. They need to be checked. 99% of police are just trying to do their jobs as safely as possible and go home in one piece. Give them every possible tool to do that. If you want the police to stay away from your innocent personal life, change the administration and their agenda.
March 10, 2011 at 8:00 am
@Joe Cruz,
Joe, if they have a arrest warrant to serve at a given location, then they likely can get a SEARCH warrant approved by a judge, which would let them do as much targeted surveillance as they deem needed prior to “going through a door”.
THAT is constitutional, and protects the police AND the citizens.
March 10, 2011 at 5:55 am | | Report comment
Women love the extra protection from mean men. So, you will soon see these flying above your private property. Love it and embrace it feminized sheep. It is to make you “feel” safe….
March 9, 2011 at 10:47 pm | | Report comment
We should be voting on this up or down; it is not the kind of thing that should be imposed on us by an unelected agency! I don’t care what the cops say or the SCOTUS,for that matter. This is a question of individual liberty and you need to stand up and say we aren’t paying taxes for this kind of crap. Honestly if they spent half the energy on terrorists and illegals that they spend on this crap we’d be a lot better off.
March 9, 2011 at 10:53 pm | | Report comment
Oooops! I was cleaning the old 30.06 M1 Garand rifle and it went off with the bullet whizzing through the glass pane to wipe out the spy drone that was peaking through the window. Gee, hope that doesn’t happen again . . .
March 9, 2011 at 10:54 pm | | Report comment
Nice Target. Say hello to my 12 gauge.
March 9, 2011 at 11:00 pm | | Report comment
I’m already sick of the modern world and wish we lived back in the good ole days when computers weren’t around and people didn’t steal your identity and track you wherever you go with cell phones and who knows what else. With all these cute gadgets and techno advancements comes a price. We should have been careful for what we wished for. We’ve become so reliant on computers that hackers could shut down our power grids, water and other vital utilities. I miss the 80s and even the 90s when things weren’t so advanced.
March 9, 2011 at 11:00 pm | | Report comment
30.06 cal. high power deer rifle, 8X scope, dead drone. What’s the problem.
March 9, 2011 at 11:02 pm | | Report comment
I used to work in the plant where these are made. If they get caught in a 20 mph crosswind, they go completely out of control and crash. They’re a lawsuit waiting to happen when they’re used outside of a battlefield environment.
Honeywell Aerospace is in severe financial straits and is caught in a death-spiral of bad management They’re desperate to develop a domestic market for these things.
March 9, 2011 at 11:09 pm | | Report comment
everything these cops tell us are not intended turns into the exact opposite, liars, liars, liars, liars. I don’t trust any of them especially the young ones.
March 9, 2011 at 11:17 pm | | Report comment
Guess I’ll have to get rid of all those dustbunnies I have been avoiding
March 9, 2011 at 11:25 pm | | Report comment
It can fly a couple of miles high. Your best chance is to get a shot in while it’s taking off or landing. You can also take out the controller on the ground.
March 9, 2011 at 11:28 pm | | Report comment
If I see that thing hovering out my window the only thing that will come to mind is “Target practice!”
“If this thing is deployed, it’s only going to be used in situations where we already have an ongoing police scene,” said Cohen. “They are going to know we are there because we will have tactical teams, SRT teams, we’re going to have a perimeter, it’s going to be secure.”
It always starts this way then it always comes to some reason to justify another thing and another and then guess what?
America please wake up, people was talking about this 20 years ago and were laughed at. Not no more
March 9, 2011 at 11:36 pm | | Report comment
This is getting ridiculous…and I’m a cop.
March 9, 2011 at 11:38 pm | | Report comment
First of all, the “Left” is not “coming for you”. I am busy enough trying to keep a roof over my head and eat, and don’t have time for an agenda. Second of all, your rights end where mine begin. We seem to forget that. You have the right to smoke, but when your smoke gets in my face, I will hurt you bad. The bonus is as one commenter said above…you wingnuts have given out more information to the authorities than any drone can.
March 9, 2011 at 11:40 pm | | Report comment
@Thomas Elliott,
So let me get this straight…if someone’s cigarette smoke annoys you for a few moments, you have the right to HURT them? (the corollary being that in your mind YOU have a right to hurt them and that apparently ends THEIR right to not be hurt by you)
Thanks for providing a PERFECT example of the deeply disturbing hypocrisy of the left.
————————————————-
Thomas Elliott said, “Second of all, your rights end where mine begin. We seem to forget that. You have the right to smoke, but when your smoke gets in my face, I will hurt you bad.”
March 10, 2011 at 6:07 am | | Report comment
“If this thing is deployed, it’s only going to be used in situations where we already have an ongoing police scene,”
Yeah, and Tasers were only going to be used when deadly force was the only other option!
More BS from the police state.
March 9, 2011 at 11:51 pm | | Report comment
People are idiots. You all are the first to whine when something bad happens and the police didn’t do enough. That meth house down the street, the chop shop around the corner, Alibabuba building a nuke in his backyard… all examples of people that have something to fear. You all really think that your lives are that friggan exciting that big bro. wants to invade your privacy? Put your tinfoil hat on, you’ll be fine! Jeez, Grow up!
March 9, 2011 at 11:55 pm | | Report comment
Keep drinking Big Brother’s kool aid and you’ll be just fine. The government loves you so go back sleep, little sheep, and keep paying your taxes and you’ll be just fine. It can’t happen here because all the criminals are in the bad neighborhoods. There’s no bad people in the government. All the bad people wear tin foil hats–they never wear a suit and tie or a uniform. It’s all so very simple if you don’t try to do your own thinking. Bad guys: tin foil hats and turbans. Good guys: suit and tie or uniform. Got it? Good boy. You are the most perfect citizen in wonderful perfect country where the government loves you and keeps you safe. Yum, yum, kool aid taste good. Can I have some more, please, Mister government GOD. Thank you, sir. LONG LIVE BIG BROTHER! A DRONE IN EVERY HOME!
March 10, 2011 at 1:15 am | | Report comment
And… if that little toy means that a police officer making about 50k/yr who gets shot at to protect your kid’s bicycle from getting stolen, gets to go home at the end of his shift to see his wife and kids… then order 10000 of ‘em!
March 9, 2011 at 11:59 pm | | Report comment
The laws of a naion will only work if a vast majority of the citizens are willing to abide by them. Then there is this increasingly large group of lawbreakers that violate the laws. The question is what does the government do about that?
when tyhe lawbreakers are better armed than the police, are the police still supposed to be equiped with muzzle loaders andf broad swords while the lawbreakers use GPS’s, AK-47′s and other devices of worse ilk? I don’t have the answers but you idiots who are always complaining about the police ought to think your complaining through before making fools of yourselves. Complaining about something without having a better solution shows stupidity.
March 10, 2011 at 12:50 am | | Report comment
@Russ,
The overarching laws of the land are enumerated in the US Constitution. The “increasingly large group of lawbreakers” unfortunately ALSO is increasingly including various governmental agencies and personnel.
The issue is that there is a constitutional path to follow that DOES provide a means to effectively write and enforce laws while still providing the means to protect our officers. But, some legislatures and councils, some judges, and some law enforcement agencies/personnel are increasingly failing to follow that path. They seek and use shortcuts for expedience and budgetary reasons. Many of their unconstitutional actions are in fact later overturned in court and thus end up costing even more money, AND by thus needlessly letting criminals back out on the street they end up further endangering themselves AND the public.
The “answer” is to write AND enforce laws in ways that are both constitutional for citizens AND as safe as possible.for the officers and citizens.
Those goals are NOT mutually exclusive.
———————————————
Russ said, “The laws of a naion will only work if a vast majority of the citizens are willing to abide by them. Then there is this increasingly large group of lawbreakers that violate the laws. The question is what does the government do about that?”
Russ said, “I don’t have the answers but you idiots who are always complaining about the police ought to think your complaining through before making fools of yourselves.”
March 10, 2011 at 6:31 am | | Report comment
!Why not order a million of them? What’s a matter– don’t you worship the POLICE STATE? Don’t you know that all government authorities are GODS? Are you a thought criminal? You only wanted to order a 1000 drones–does that mean you don’t love BIG BROTHER? You better think hard before you answer, my friend. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING AND LISTENING TO YOU and he has had enough of you fake patriots that only want to order a thousand drones. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY! LONG LIVE BIG BROTHER! DOWN WITH THE THOUSAND DRONES TRAITORS! A DRONE IN EVERY HOME! A DRONE IN EVERY HOME! A DRONE IN EVERY HOME!
March 10, 2011 at 12:53 am | | Report comment
So now just MAYBE seeing a nearby general police presence eliminates the need for a JUDGE-ISSUED WARRANT?
What BS!!!
———————————
said Cohen. “They are going to know we are there because we will have tactical teams, SRT teams, we’re going to have a perimeter, it’s going to be secure.”
March 10, 2011 at 1:06 am | | Report comment
If they happen to use this thing on my property w/o a warrant, (trespassing) Mr. $50,000 Robot gets introduced to Mr. Lead Poisoning. I wonder if they will yell “Officer Down!” into their radios as their silly electronic piece of crap lies useless in the dirt. Anything to keep the fat lazy cops in the safety of their cars, I guess. I thought this was 2011, but apparently it’s 1984. And yes, I read the article and know that it said they won’t use it that way, but who’s naive enough to believe that? They also said tasers would only be used when the cop’s life was in danger, but a quick search on youtube proves otherwise. Doesn’t the police department have enough drones working for it already?
March 10, 2011 at 1:37 am | | Report comment
I am ALL for it ! A N Y T H I N G that will save an officer s life !
I would LOVE to have them in California . I an ALL for anything to R E D U C E crime. Maybe YOU haven t been hit by crime, but talk to people , look aroud, IT IS WHERE Y O U L I V E
We pay the police to W I N the WAR on crime !! Let s Give them the TOOLS to W I N.
March 10, 2011 at 1:54 am | | Report comment
THIS IS WHAT A POLICE STATE LOOKS LIKE.
March 10, 2011 at 2:22 am | | Report comment
THEY ALLREADY HAVE THE GESTAPO WARRENT DISK – NO KNOCK WARRENT NOW THEY GET TO WATCH YOU AND YOUR WIFE IN BED WHILE THEY SET OUTSIDE EATING DOUNUTS , YOUR ALL LIVING IN GLOBALIST POLICE STATE , AND DONT EVEN KNOW IT ? WHEN YOU ARE TAKING THAT COLD TRAIN RIDE TO ONE THOSE FEMA DEATH CAMPS BECAUSE BIG BROTHER OVER HEARD SOME UN PATRIOTIC STATEMENT YOU MADE JUST REMEMBER THIS E-MAIL COMRADE !!!!!!!!!
March 10, 2011 at 3:25 am | | Report comment
Sure the PD won’t look into your home, are they kidding, the more power you give them, the more they will abuse it.
Police State v2.0
March 10, 2011 at 4:35 am | | Report comment
Look on the bright side – they only have one of these and at $50,000 a pop do you think they’d be able to get a replacement?
March 10, 2011 at 5:57 am | | Report comment
If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.
March 10, 2011 at 6:45 am | | Report comment
Nothing a 12 gauge wouldn’t take out…… Pull!….BOOW!!
March 10, 2011 at 6:55 am | | Report comment
What a waste of money! A criminal with a shotgun will take only a few seconds to realize what the drone is and it’ll become a “clay target”. There goes $50,000 of taxpayer money!
High tech isn’t always the solution
March 10, 2011 at 6:59 am | | Report comment
Time for some skeet shooting
March 10, 2011 at 7:28 am | | Report comment
With the police watching everything we’ll all be so much safer. Now everyone form a line to the right and deposit your firearms into this back of this truck. The government will take care of everything….
March 10, 2011 at 8:10 am | | Report comment
I sincerely doubt that this device is usable without a warrant. I think you have a reasonable expectation of privacy in a second floor room with the curtains open for both light and airflow. To fly this device up and peek in fishing for illegal activity is an absolute invasion of privacy and a direct attack on our fourth amendment rights. This will surely be tested in the court system.
March 10, 2011 at 8:24 am | | Report comment
This thing is one more waste of money to pay for something that will produce nothing. Anyone who has flown any kind of remote helicopter can tell you that you can’t just pick this thing up and learn to use it in a few attempts. Now we will need drone training classes, and God knows what else for a toy that will probably be used very little. Maybe it can fetch donuts and coffee.
March 10, 2011 at 9:10 am | | Report comment
they do NOT need a warrant for this
March 10, 2011 at 9:25 am | | Report comment
Unfortunately, we have lost our freedom, nobody has yet to tell the masses.. My office monitors email, phone calls, text messages, and of course, video monitoring.. Wonder about the bathrooms??????
March 10, 2011 at 9:38 am | | Report comment
You’ll soon be hearing a common phrase … “After the Second American Revolution … “.
March 10, 2011 at 9:48 am | | Report comment
Maybe they could attach a small policeman to the device, and let him parachute onto a roof or back yard? Someone about the size of Barney Fife.
Of course, he could nip it in the bud. That is, naturally, if Don Johnson or Rico are not available.
March 10, 2011 at 9:51 am | | Report comment
What happens when the bad guys shoot the drone?
March 10, 2011 at 10:02 am | | Report comment
Need a drone to know if there is a dog behind the fence? Dont dogs usually make that noise called a “Bark” to let you know they’re there? LOL
March 10, 2011 at 10:17 am | | Report comment
The selective ignorance some of you people practice is astounding.
I don’t think some of you people understand nor have the desire or capacity attempt to understand the practical application of this drone. Its a specialized tool to be used by SRT that will only be deployed as SRT is deployed in the exact same manner as a designated marksman is deployed. That is to say it is used for overwatch security. Its not going to be patrolling neighborhoods.
This drone is essentially an expensive R/C plane with some improved video transmission capabilities
. Its a tool to see if there’s a possible danger of a boundary without exposing an officer to harm. The thing can barely stay up for an hour, its not Skynet.
Also, you people need to educate yourselves on case laws regarding The Plain View Doctrine in Florida. Essentially, if I can see it in your home even using binoculars from 200yds away or let’s even say, I can see it in your yard while I’m working on my roof, its considered in plain view. If local police wanted to look into your windows from a distance and “spy” on you they already have the lawful ability and readily available tools (optics) to do it.
The thing is, in all honesty, the local police don’t care about what’s over your fence or through those curtains if there isn’t a current issue on scene. Local Law Enforcement is REACTIVE not proactive. There are too many calls for service and far too few available officers for some sort of unjustified surveillance to take place.
By the way, you all have seen Google Maps, right? A satellite picture of your house, your street, etc, offered for free. Do you honestly think that some federal LE agency doesn’t have a satellite that can provide real time HD video currently in orbit? I don’t see any of you knocking on NSA’s door to protest all their “illegal surveillance”.
And for all of you saying you’ll use a firearm against it because such “spying” is against your 4th amendment rights (its not), since when was discharging a firearm in city/county limits without need of self defense from death or grave injury (that’s right folks, look up Florida Statute 776) somehow permissible? Don’t you know that bullets don’t magically explode upon impact? Even if you could hit an extremely small, fast moving target at 200 yards, would it be ethical to take the shot? What goes up must go down. So what all you ignorant wannabe snipers are saying is that you would be ok with jeopardizing the safety of everyone in the area, not just law enforcement. You should be ashamed.
And this taser argument, tasers only used in substitute of deadly force. Where did you guys ever hear that? No LE agency ever stopped issuing firearms and substituted them with tasers. Tasers are a less lethal option just the same as OC spray or baton and can be used (according to FDLE and subject to department policy) to subdue subjects. Honestly being tased is not that bad. It sounds bad, sure, because all the muscles are being contracted including the diaphragm. However, its only five seconds a ride. Having been both sprayed and tasered, I’d rather be tasered any day.
Again, the ignorance here is hurting my brain. How about you people cite some sources for your quotes.
I want to know who said tasers are only going to be used in substitute of deadly force.
March 10, 2011 at 10:18 am | | Report comment
What a bunch of hysterical Henny-Penny “the sky is falling!” cry-babies! This is a specialized tool to be used in very specific situations and is not all that different from the use of full-size police helicopters in similar situations except that it can be rapidly deployed, costs a thousand times less per hour to operate and doesn’t present the danger to human pilots, etc.
You people are acting as if you’re going to be sitting around having a BBQ or sunbathing in your back yard and the cops are going to be flying this thing around your neighborhoods just for kicks.
Obviously, this CANNOT happen. First, this thing is very VISIBLE. Second, this thing makes NOISE. It’s not like some cloud that’s going to silently float around over your back yard.
Grow up, people!
March 10, 2011 at 10:27 am | | Report comment
When it comes to violating civil rights, children and minorities are often sighted as reasons for it. For example: “The drones are needed to look into homes to protece women, children and (insert minority here)
March 10, 2011 at 10:30 am | | Report comment
As in the World of Clay Pigeon Shooting………..Pull… POP goes 50K
March 10, 2011 at 10:41 am | | Report comment
Now we know what the cops fear most: dogs and sheds.
March 10, 2011 at 10:55 am | | Report comment
“Police admit the MAV, if flown low enough, has the ability to look into people’s home, but that is not its intended purpose.”
Regardless of the “intended purpose,” if the device has the capability, it will eventually used to its fullest capability. More Big Brother spying on the Mundanes.
March 10, 2011 at 11:05 am | | Report comment
My coment will consist of the following and no more: If the Founding Fathers were to rise and see their nation in action at home and around the globe, they would be so destraugjt and begging to immediately go back their peaceful graves. Yes, for those Americans who really know who they were!
March 10, 2011 at 11:08 am | | Report comment
My wife and I live in San Diego County. For over 8 years we have an intense lowfrequency hum in and around our home. We rarely get regular sleep, often wake up with severe headaches. It’s not related to power lines or electrical issues. After many discussions with military branches, FAA, DHS, and politicians, we have concluded that someone is using a sonic imaging device on us from a high-altitude UAV (18k+ ft). Our hearing is excellent, we have witnesses, and we have a .wav file of the noise. If anyone knows anyone who might help us, please reply.
March 10, 2011 at 11:39 am | | Report comment
One good shot by a kid with a high powered pellet rifle and there goes
$ 50,000 of taxpayers’ money down in flames.
Well at least they will have something other than birds to shoot at.
LOL
March 10, 2011 at 11:43 am | | Report comment
If your not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.
March 10, 2011 at 12:33 pm | | Report comment
PULL!!!
March 10, 2011 at 9:56 pm | | Report comment
I love how the page administrators here like to shuffle around messages opposing your obviously biased intentions.
SRT officers often check for hazards by going to the boundary and using a periscope or mirror or a small ladder. The problem with that is the exposure of the officer which presents a potential threat of harm. All this thing does is let SRT get the same intel without exposing an officer to undue harm.
Geez, you tin-foiled hat clowns are ridiculous. I can understand your complaints if they were installing backscatter devices on robotic devices that patrol your neighborhood, but seriously guys, its a tool for SRT only.
March 11, 2011 at 10:41 am | | Report comment
You just have all the answers… I mean “Excuses”. Any time in history the police have been given an inch they quickly abused it. Don’t tell me some bored stupid fat baldo cop isn’t going to abuse their shiny new toy plane. Luckily the designers admitted they didn’t trust the police or ANYONE with their technology so to protect their goodwill they use logs in these softwares that will tell complainants exactly where they were flying their toy helicopters.
November 1, 2011 at 4:56 am | | Report comment
I think its a terrible thing our privacy is in jeopardy sure they say its only to be used when there is a problem already and that their presence would be know but what assurance do we have that it wont fall into the wrong hands i believe our world will be like Mad Max or Judgement Day with Sylvester Stallone its scary man!
March 16, 2011 at 9:55 am | | Report comment