What bothers me about this was the apparent lie delivered by the Police that the area had FAA flight restrictions when it did not.
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Do you have any idea how many seat belt tickets they’re going to have to write to pay for that thing?
No Virginia, we don’t live in a police state.
These don’t shoot at people and lose the tape, do they?
If you have nothing to hide, what’s the issue.
So why are the police being so secretive with public money. Another case of U.S. Government not wanting to be scrutinized by the public, in this farce we call democracy.
Besides, police are always right!! The supreme-court says they can lie, ignore your rights, take your property ….
So if you don’t like all this, then vote for change!!!
But we did vote for change, now what? That’s the $10000.00 question the government is setting it self up for the public to ask, now what.
What can be done, will be done. I guess it was only a matter of time. I did like the statement about getting the program going and THEN worrying about the issues of illegal searches, etc.
Kudos to the TV station for broadcasting this. I’m sure they received a lot of pressure not to.
I have it on good authority that they carry long range laser guided tasers.
Uses include “Tactical”. Hmm. 15 lbs worth of payload. Could very easily carry a weapon and plenty of ammunition.
I bet this thing could be taken out by a much cheaper drone created by a hobbyist. The hard part would be finding the police drone.
“we will DECIDE later if we are doing something illegal”
“we will let the judges decide, AFTER we have used it and you can PROVE we used it against you”
OK,
Get your 30-30, 306, and lets see how long it lasts.
And you TOO could be a redneck.
BANG BANG.
OOPS,
I thought it was a DUCK..
I think a propper response would be high powered directional EMP devices. That would fix a problem like this very fast.
They’re going to end up using these drones for giving speeding tickets. You know how sometimes you drive on the highway and there are perpendicular lines on the asphalt every 25 feet? That is so the highway patrol plane can see how fast you’re going and some states they are allowed to issue you a ticket, it’ll be in the mail. Well this will be a more high tech and probably cheaper version. You’re driving along going 10 mph over the speed limit, a couple days letter you open the mail and staring you in the face is a $250 ticket. Red light cameras, stop light cameras (in Chicago), rent-a-cops, etc. These police departments are making some serious dough, to protect and serve of course.
I don’t really have a problem with the police using unmanned drones, as long as their use is transparent. Now that Houston’s tests have been outed, all tests should be in the open. In addition, weapons of any sort should NEVER EVER EVER BE CARRIED. I hope the “tactical” use the spokesperson was describing involved flying around a danger scene to let the police know what is happening, not carrying around that laser-guided taser…
And if they are used in searches, I hope the courts are very strict in limiting their use, and in requiring subpoenas.
considering that it can’t have as sophisticated loiter capabilities as a Predator or Global Hawk, it would be nearly useless for monitoring daily regional criminal activity. And houston is so urbanized at this point that I can’t see them using it for spotting expansive fields of pot. I have to guess that the intent is going to be primarily for traffic purposes, but whether or not that’s speeding tickets or tailing in lieu of high-speed chases is another matter.
okay, scratch that about loiter capabilities. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_ScanEagle
Damn, if we’d only had these for Waco, we coulda burned those kids alive on the first day!!!!
“# 6 Mextli said, on June 16th, 2010 at 9:25 am
I have it on good authority that they carry long range laser guided tasers.”
All I want in life is drones with frik’in tazers on their heads. Is that too much to ask?
It is from the fall of 2007. Uncle Dave posted it May 17 2010
There has been recent pressure put on the FAA to allow more flights and to develop regulations to allow much more use of drones and UAVs.
Just a thought, wouldn’t local TV news stations love these for their use. They would have to be much more cost-effective than a helicopter.
I keep seeing this story pop up various places with the date filed off like it’s something that just happened.
Tracking down the story on google (for ‘hpd drone’ stories on the web site mentioned in the video), this video is from NOVEMBER ****2007****
http://www.click2houston.com/investigates/14659066/detail.html
Not Dvorak’s fault, but I wish all bloggers / news organizations would consistently make the date visible in their stories.
Actually, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for reposters to do so too… If you’re about to repost something and can’t figure out the original’s date, then that would be a red flag that you might be posting very old news.
Noj
Agreed.
I would love to have DATES and time posted on Every site, including LAST UPDATE.
Love going to a site and its 10 years old, and you dont know it.
I predict that gun-toting, gun-crazy Texans will shoot these drones down.
I have mixed feelings about this complaint when the information is still NEW to most readers. The litany amongst those online too much is that anything a week old — whether well distributed or not — is old and should buried.
Invasion of privacy? They use cameras in the air…. its not a invasion of privacy. The law is also clear on things like thermal cameras, infrared. If its cheaper than a helicopter, then why not??
John,
Uncle Dave posted this last month:
http://dvorak.org/blog/2010/05/17/predator-drone-nation/
Policy abroad becomes policy at home
Be careful what you ask for
Watch for it
@Tom Wolf,
Hoping for transparency and good behavior in the use of these drones will be impossible and useless because they cannot be overseen by the public due to their association with ongoing military operations.
Say goodbye to oversight. Everything is a military secret with these things.
The police have thus become nationalized and secret.
@noname (#4)
The farce is that the average American has been duped into believing that the United States of America is a democracy. It isn’t. It’s a republic. A democracy (majority rule) is two wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner. A republic is supposed to adhere to the Constitution and protect the rights of individuals.
So how many of you noticed this idea is not news? We had a post either this one or very similar from Texas some time ago.
They will use it to do the same things choppers do only this is a heck of lot cheaper to operate.
# 26 NelsonOH,
Ok, so you believe the “republic” adheres to the Constitution and protects the rights of individuals; and that, majority vote doesn’t count.
Your wrong on the first part (bill of rights isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on) and right on the 2nd, majority vote doesn’t indeed count.
A few questions:
Where is your expectation to privacy on a street? Where is expectation to privacy next to an open window?
Answer: According to the Supreme Court, you have none. Period.
Another thought: When your loved one is missing and you want every able bodied person looking for said loved one, I’ll bet you would think this tool would’ve been handy to have.
Theoretically, If a local government could afford it, it’s perfectly acceptable to have a police officer on every street corner. The solution is cameras on public streets, or flying cameras in the air. Honestly, I have problem with this from a constitutional standpoint.