The proposal smacked into resistance from the ACLU of Northern California. It observed on its blog that “when law enforcement has powerful and dangerous tools in its arsenal, it will use them.” Drones raised “enormous privacy concerns” and could “easily be abused.” Further: One of the reasons cited by Sheriff Ahern in support of drones is that they are much cheaper than other forms of aerial surveillance.... But the relative inexpensiveness of electronic surveillance is also precisely why strong safeguards need to be in place. When the police have to mount elaborate and costly foot and squad patrols to follow a suspect 24/7, the expenditure of resources serves as a deterrent to abuse; it forces the police to limit their surveillance to instances when it is actually necessary. Drones permit the police to surveil people at all hours of the day and, apparently, at 1/30 the cost of other forms of aerial surveillance. The natural deterrent to abuse goes away, and invites abuse.
Posted on: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 22:02:13 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015