Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drone aircraft, are about to be launched for the first time by the police in Los Angeles.
UAVs have long been used by the military in war zones such as Iraq or Afghanistan. But the technology has been adapted for domestic use and could revolutionise the way law enforcement agencies carry out surveillance and rescue operations.
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has been experimenting with a drone called SkySeer, which it intends to put into service later this month.
Commander Heal is quick to point out that it is not their intention to launch ‘big brother’ style surveillance operations.
“There’s no place in an urban environment that you can go to right now that you’re not being looked at with a video camera and you have nothing to fear from your own government – you are being watched by your fellow citizens,” he says.
There are a lot of “fellow citizens” I don’t trust to watch over me.
Update: The LA Sheriffs were boffed by the FAA for flying their test without a permit. They’re all upset about it.
“There’s no place in an urban environment that you can go to right now that you’re not being looked at with a video camera and you have nothing to fear from your own government – you are being watched by your fellow citizens,”
That fellow citizens bit does sound Orwellian – and creepy. I bet that is what the propaganda posters in China and North Korea say too.
Could probably save the tax payers some money. Now instead of having a big expensive manned helicopter running you can use a cheaper UAV to do the job.
Agreed! These UAV’s have been around since at least 1997 that is according to our unclassifed information that is found on .mil goverment websites.
What bothers me is how these drones are going to be used, and I am sure the more and more RFID is implemented in virtually all devices that these drones probably can easily track the radio identification and depending on what packages you get in the mail,etc you could be easily tracked for the right and wrong reasons, depending on what the current chess game agenda is at the moment.
Ok hackers/freedom fighters … time to design some ground to air missles for the revolution!
Ground to air missles? How about a $5 laser pointer?
Or we could use something designed by these guys — http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=5784
I think that would be a DMCA violation moss. Anyone that violates the DMCA must be an evil-doer!
I think the helicopter pilots may be tired of being shot at, or the insurance companies are.
Fellow citizens with the legal power to incarcerate and kill. Fellow citizens who think they know how it’s best that I live and will watch everything I do in order to ensure that what I do meets with their approval. They are only fellow citizens so long as I do what they approve of, otherwise I become a prisoner with no rights of citizenship.
Hell….we here in the states have it good…..you can’t fart in the U.K. without it being on cam.
But, surprisingly, they never seem to be working when the cops screw up.