Warsaw protester launches drone to spy on police - Videos

I love the ingenuity here. What a great idea. Not only will this enable people to spy on the police and anticipate when they are going to move in, but it could also really help to document abuse. I was pretty surprised at the camera quality and how stable everything seemed. Perhaps we can start to occupy the skies now!

During protests in Warsaw last weekend, one crafty activist deployed a flying drone to spy on riot police. YouTube user latajacakamera — or “flying camera” in Polish — uploaded the amazing video that the drone effortlessly captured as it hovered over teargas-filled streets. In another video, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) floats in front of a formation of police in riot gear as they rush towards demonstrators. None of them appear to notice.

Link

Oh now that is a development to respect. Talk about working smarter, not harder. I'm surprised someone thought of this and actually did it, but you're right Domo. It has several benefits that should see more locations doing it. It's impossible to argue events with a God view of the entire thing. Nice!

reply to post by Domo1


At 1:32 in the first vid the drone was definately notice as it was fired upon. The smoke trail came within a few meters of the drone! S&F!

reply to post by overseer1136


Good eye but I think that was just a canister or something being fired down range. They have to arc those things.

Anyone else impressed with how fast and maneuverable the craft seems?

Alright. What better way to see the movement than having our own eye in the sky. Sure beats news helicopters that for sure.

This is just amazing!!

Great find Domo!

I agree, that that drone is very fast, easily controlled, and has good quality video footage...

Wonder if it also streams the footage? Or just records it

reply to post by morder1


Pretty sure it's streaming the video. I don't think that would be too difficult to set up.

They DO stream and in very high quality. The whole point of the big ones are to be able to fly out of Line of Sight and still maintain full working control for professional survey work and the like. They aren't cheap...but very impressive. I'd honestly not considered it as a tool for protesters. What a creative application.

This is one I found available with a 4kg payload capacity.




Full Specs and Info

Hats off to the protesters who came up with and funded this addition to their tool box. Now there is a professional and very determined protest!

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Awesome! Thanks for posting that. Also, wtf is a kg? Sounds unAmericunn

reply to post by Domo1

LOL... Sorry... 4 Kilograms. Just under 9 pounds. I'm becoming one of 'them'...ahh..help me! I'm finally starting to think in metric. Now I know we must be in the end times. lol...

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Don't go over to the dark side!



I sadly was just about to look up the conversion to pounds. 9 pounds is a pretty decent payload.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Any idea of the flight time this thing gets? I'm guessing about 20-30 minutes which is still enough I suppose for short sorties.

reply to post by Domo1

The one up there is a short time. 8 minutes.. There are others out there with longer times and there are cheaper ones that are still capable of automatic hovering and very stable operation. Probably not a bad idea for the larger camps to look into actually. If they are well funded, this one is a very good choice:

Dragonflyer X8 descriptions

X8 Tech Specs

^^ That one is actually what law enforcement is starting to use. It's a 20 minute flight time with a 30 minute recharge. Carry a few batteries and OWS video air support would be a realistic concept. Heck, they even ship a model with a FLIR Camera. Base cost on that one means only the rich camps could do it though. A bit over $30,000 on the base model. It would provide an invaluable capability though.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Wat. 30k? DAYUM. I hope thats more weird metric speak... I believe that's higher than the average income in the US, but it may be 33k. Shoot poverty line is what, 28k two parent household and two kids?

What are you wearing my friend... Perhaps we can just start our own business. RAWR! So you're going to sell one of your cars for the prototype right... I like mine too much...

I saw this awhile ago but it didn't mention anything about this guy who is filming being part of the protest. Where did you get that? I think this would be an excellent tool for media to get those exclusive footages that would sell well.

reply to post by PsykoOps

I saw this awhile ago but it didn't mention anything about this guy who is filming being part of the protest. Where did you get that?

From the article...

didn't even see the link. Oh well. To me it didn't look like the guy was a protester. He wasn't where the protest was taking place. Of course he could've been on phone with friends who were there.

I love this initiative, but just want to ask whether it's illegal there to film the police, as per here in England? Not that I'm opposed to breaking that particular law - just wondered if they've introduced this everywhere in order to counter those who catch them up to no good.

www.guardian.co.uk...

It's not illegal in Uk to film the cops. That story is just pure bs. Know your rights

Originally posted by PsykoOps
It's not illegal in Uk to film the cops. That story is just pure bs. Know your rights

Then why was there tons of press coverage re the law being introduced in 209 = for eg, the clip from the Guardian which I provided a link to?

Here's a further item, but there are loads if you Google it...

In Britain, it is now technically illegal to photograph a police officer. Being a tourist in Trafalgar Square you should be safe to include a policeman in the picture; but the police can and do enforce this law when they want to and when they want to give journalists and political protesters a hard time. It's all part of the Terrorism Acts. Anti-terrorism legislation has also been used to prosecute people for using 'the wrong footpath'.

www.photoshop-tutorials-plus.com...