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yuiyoshida

(41,764 posts)
Wed Aug 24, 2016, 02:40 PM Aug 2016

Drones: Law Enforcement’s Secret Eye In The Sky

How Minnesota’s largest county started using drones with little transparency or oversight.


Residents of Minnesota’s largest county may soon notice police drones whizzing around overhead. The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) has already deployed a small quadcopter, but what will surprise observers of that drone — assuredly the first of more to come — is the serious lack of oversight regarding its use. Law enforcement officials are able to use the drone to collect evidence without first obtaining a warrant, and they are still failing to explain the full scope of the program.

The quadcopter currently being used in the county was first used as early as May to search for a missing student, according to media reports, despite HCSO officials saying earlier the drone would only begin flying operationally a month later.

The county sheriff’s office maintains that the drone will only be used for search and rescue missions, like the one in May, but it seems that more may be in store. Its Unmanned Aerial Systems policy currently outlines “protocols [for] data intended to be used as evidence” and “[facilitates] law enforcement access to images and data captured by the UAS.”
Such language raises concerns about police surveillance through drones and leaves more questions than answers about a program that has largely remained in the dark.

The county has been quiet about the plans it has for the use of drones — blocking public records requests since at least March 2015, claiming at the time that it had no records related to use of drones, plans for acquisition and similar details.

https://thinkprogress.org/drones-law-enforcements-secret-eye-in-the-sky-9eda68fb8bc#.3mteg4w5g
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Drones: Law Enforcement’s Secret Eye In The Sky (Original Post) yuiyoshida Aug 2016 OP
the criminal class never gives up. soon they will be shooting us from the skies...in the name msongs Aug 2016 #1

msongs

(67,199 posts)
1. the criminal class never gives up. soon they will be shooting us from the skies...in the name
Wed Aug 24, 2016, 03:10 PM
Aug 2016

of law and order of course

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