Police drones are grounded for breaking the law

Police drones are grounded for breaking the law

www.dailymail.co.uk

When they first took off, the drones were hailed as the latest weapon in the war against crime.

But after police celebrated their first arrest thanks to one of the miniature remote-controlled helicopters, it emerged it was not only a suspected car thief who was potentially breaking the law.

Merseyside Police has been forced to ground its drones for flying them without the appropriate licence.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.independent.co.uk

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
Merseyside police drone tracks car theft suspects

I started a thread about police drones just the other day, where we discussed the legality of such a thing flying around. It seems I was right, the law on model/unmanned aircraft does apply to these things.

It also appears they were flying it in residential areas in thick fog, something you shouldn't even do in a manned aircraft, nevermind sending a drone out and not being able to see where it's going.

I'm not too sure how high 400 feet is, but my guess is it's high enough to endanger power supplies & buildings etc.

The police are calling it a 'vehicle', which it isn't, it's just the same as a model aircraft, and the same laws apply, just as we all said the other day.

www.dailymail.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

It still sucks they plan to use these things..

Lets get rid of a few more coppers and replace them with drones..

Less coppers mean more stressed coppers with less time to actually learn the law..

nothing positive to see here.. all negative..

Apart from the public safety issue here, it won't be long before these drones are being used by a whole manner of other 'departments'. I see these groups using them:

Local councils - to spy on people for things like fly tipping, putting the wrong rubbish in the wrong bin, minor car parking offenses, graffiti, public unrination, school catchement areas, so on so forth. All this will be sold to us under the banner of 'preventing anti social behavour', just as government privacy intrustions are pushed under the banner of 'anti terrorism'.

Private investigators - to spy on anyone under their watch, most probably for things like extra marital affairs (crimes of love, Orwell I hand you your heart on a plate, eat it out).

Supermarket chains - using them to spy on where customers shop & what they buy from competition.

Social Services - to spy on people's children, keeping watch of what they are doing and what their parents are doing for the slightest slip-up, to make the given child is a candidate for snatching & adoption.

The possibilities are ENDLESS, we must let TPTB know they cannot fly unmanned spy drones in our neighborhoods unhindered.

400 feet = 121.9 meters , as for them flying around, the idiots should have used gps mapping and guidance systems as it doesn't matter if its fog or rain (depending on the drone model). But sure enough, flying over residential areas they obviously needed to have ALL the necessary permits to do so, regardless if your the police.

Simply another case of allowing the citizens to become infuriated at the lack of respect for the law.

Originally posted by The Chez
Apart from the public safety issue here, it won't be long before these drones are being used by a whole manner of other 'departments'. I see these groups using them:

Local councils - to spy on people for things like fly tipping, putting the wrong rubbish in the wrong bin, minor car parking offenses, graffiti, public unrination, school catchement areas, so on so forth. All this will be sold to us under the banner of 'preventing anti social behavour', just as government privacy intrustions are pushed under the banner of 'anti terrorism'.

Private investigators - to spy on anyone under their watch, most probably for things like extra marital affairs (crimes of love, Orwell I hand you your heart on a plate, eat it out).

Supermarket chains - using them to spy on where customers shop & what they buy from competition.

Social Services - to spy on people's children, keeping watch of what they are doing and what their parents are doing for the slightest slip-up, to make the given child is a candidate for snatching & adoption.

The possibilities are ENDLESS, we must let TPTB know they cannot fly unmanned spy drones in our neighborhoods unhindered.

Drones are/have also being used by drug running cartels, obviously no pilot no arrest !

[edit on 16-2-2010 by tristar]

reply to post by The Chez



"400 feet = 121.9 meters" Well that's an envelope high enough to cause some serious issues, especially in fog or highly restricted visibility, and in an urban area.

It's high enough to be at risk of collision with either other airborne objects or stationary objects (e.g. birds, power lines, pylons, communications transmission structures, balloons (stray?).

It could collide with people on tall structures (window cleaners on tower blocks, engineers on pylons or telecoms structures?)

If it were to collide with any of the above, although relatively small and light, it could still pose a potentially lethal hazard to people and animals on the ground (i.e. if it were to lose power and fall, if it were to make something else fall).

I would say that the flight of such vehicles should be very strictly re-thought before they fly them again. It will be interesting to see what the result of the licence application/safety review is. How much have they committed to spend so far again, anyone know?





[edit on 16-2-2010 by curioustype]

Soon It'll be like half life 2, with the sukka's flying around all over taking your picture

Just make sure you've got a trusty crowbar with you

[edit on 16-2-2010 by Pockets]

reply to post by The Chez


They have something like this down in Houston. I suspect in other cities too.

reply to post by felonius


To be honest, this violation of aviatory protocol is the least illegal thing about the use of drones. For a start, these things are designed to go un noticed by those on the ground, and I worry that they will be used to monitor the behaviour of the innocent, to provide more effective intelligence to crush peaceful protest, and a whole host of other human rights abuses.
Personaly I would rather the people who decide the budget for the police force just spent the money on more police, and less spying. Leave the James Bond gadget hour to MI5 and 6 , and get on with policing in the community , bringing people together against anti social behaviour instead of observing the innocent incase they prove to be guilty.

reply to post by curioustype


I really hope they do hit something and do some damage! (not hurt anyone though)... Then there will be serious talk over using them on the public instead of the way they were just slid into use.

I wonder if that kid gets his arrest overturned cos they used the drone illegally?

If they start flying those too close to people's homes in Georgia, people will start shooting at them.

Sorry officer, I thought it was a hawk tryin' to get my chickens.

Hey Chez - I think you're right - Democracy now did a piece on CIA moonlighting for the private sector and how they are using all this super spy stuff in battles like Hershey vrs Mars. The banks are hiring them too...so what you are saying, IMO, isn't that far of a reach at all.

[edit on 16-2-2010 by hadriana]

Originally posted by hadriana
If they start flying those too close to people's homes in Georgia, people will start shooting at them.

Sorry officer, I thought it was a hawk tryin' to get my chickens.

Hey Chez - I think you're right - Democracy now did a piece on CIA moonlighting for the private sector and how they are using all this super spy stuff in battles like Hershey vrs Mars. The banks are hiring them too...so what you are saying, IMO, isn't that far of a reach at all.

[edit on 16-2-2010 by hadriana]

Or Slugworth vs Wonka lol, if that was a 21st century story, it would most certainly have included a drone or two!

In reply to Now_Then, I'm not sure, if the police used this drone illegaly, which it seems they did, then the theif does have a good case for wrongful arrest.
Not that I like to see a car theif get away with it, but the police could well have shot themselves in the foot here.

The obviously did NOT consult the CAA on the rules regarding flying unmanned craft in such a way, because it's the CAA thats shut them down (for now). I'm sure TPTB will find a way to wriggle out of it & get these things back in the sky. These are sposedly highly trained officers charged with 'protecting' the public. I feel a lot safer in the company of my partner than I ever would a police officer, he would protect me no matter what the situation, a police officer would probably phone his superintendent & ask if it was ok to pull the man who is attacking me off me! lol, sorry but I have no faith in the British police anymore, they're too wrapped up in political correctness, equality & red tape.

Talk about racism in the police, promiting a person because he has a different skin colour is equally as prejudice as demoting someone because of their skin colour! Some Brits call it the police farce, and you know what, I'm starting to come round to that idea.