Order from Amazon.com, The Persuasive Wizard: How Technical Experts Sell Their Ideas, for the low price of $12.95. Now available in Kindle e-book for $7.45. The Persuasive Wizard is an excellent gift for anyone seeking a better job, a raise in their current job, investment funding, or just needing to persuade others.
Since the 1970’s, the military has used drone aircraft for surveillance, targeting, and even attack. A drone is flown by a certified pilot on the ground using a joystick. A pilot can sometimes fly two or more vehicles at once. Initially, these flying spies and weapons were called UAV’s, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Such nomenclature was anathema to the feminists, so in 2009 the politically-correct Air Force officially renamed them Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPV).
The more common name is Drone.
Now, a drone is a male honey bee that develops from unfertilized eggs. His eyes are twice as large as the female’s. The female bees have stingers and do all the work. The drone has no stinger and does no work. The purpose of the drone is solely to fertilize the queen. Whereby, one must envision feminists ignorant of apiculture.
Most civilians think of UAV’s (RPV’s, drones) as very large aircraft. UAV’s can be, and some are, very large. However, in recent years the drone has shrunk to smaller and smaller dimensions and often is only a large model airplane. Some versions are little helicopters with wingspans of only five or six feet, bodies the size of a file drawer, and a total weight with cameras and sensors of only about 50 pounds (23 kg).
The big news hitting us, today, is that drones are being sold to law enforcement. Yes, law enforcement. Vanguard Defense Industries, LLC. (Vanguard), in Conroe, Texas (about sixty miles north of Houston) makes a helicopter drone called the Shadowhawk. Currently, the one-off cost is about $300,000. Vanguard has teamed up with Texas A&M University, about sixty miles to the west, to collaborate on research and to secure government grants. Conroe is the county seat of Montgomery County and in that county law enforcement (called sheriffs in Texas) are testing the Vanguard drones.
While, in theory, Vanguard releases specifications only to military or law enforcement, I viewed a video and conclude the following. The altitude limit is stated to be 8,000 feet but the surveillance video was taken at more like 1,000 feet. At 1,000 feet, the little helicopter drone could read the license plate of a car and do a credible job at identifying perpetrators. The night camera was infrared and not nearly as high resolution, but still impressive. I would think that at 1,000 feet a perpetrator could hear the sound of the rotors without much difficulty. In the country it would be a problem, but in a busy city the sound might not be so noticeable. The idea, I would imagine, is to expand the use of the drone to surreptitious surveillance. For a little more money, I’m certain I could make it quieter.
There is no doubt (in my estimation) that this drone could be made and sold for a few tens of thousands of dollars plus the cost of the cameras. The Wall Street Journal printed an article on the drones with Vanguard-supplied information and photographs. Vanguard also released videos to the news media. Clearly, Vanguard is ready to sell the devices for money. Arlington, Columbia (S.C.), and Miami-Dade law enforcement already have drones in use. They prefer to call them “small unmanned aircraft,” thinking that sounds better than “drone.”
All this does make 1984 and Big Brother seem apropos of fulfillment. So, as I implied in my earlier article, even I am now concerned about invasion of privacy. Is there no place sacred?
Maybe you are not as concerned as I am. Perhaps I should dilate. Is law enforcement restricted to using these for chase? No. What about surveillance? Does law enforcement suddenly have a right to observe everything you do, anywhere, anytime? No. Should each law enforcement group be permitted to make their own rules? No.
Now that these drones are in the hands of the lawful, how long do you think it will be before they pass into the hands of the unlawful? Days. How might drones be used in the creative hands of the unlawful? Maybe surveillance? Scoping a crime scene? Blackmail? Maybe attaching a weapon alongside the camera?
Are you concerned, yet?
P.S. If law enforcement needs help, and I do not argue that point, then let us put the effort into legal reform, not drone acquisition.