NY Times: Police drones are starting to think for themselves

[kendrex]

Police Drones Are Starting to Think for Themselves (Published 2020)

In one Southern California city, flying drones with artificial intelligence are aiding investigations while presenting new civil rights questions.

www.nytimes.com

 

[NG Wildman]

Big Brother is watching.
Now I, as a general rule, am a law abiding citizen. I however, feel uneasy with eyes overhead that can be used against us in a court of law. I am prior LE, both Military and Civilian. Emergency response is one thing, but where does that stop. Many states disallow the use of drones for police surveillance. I agree with this. The problem is: where do you draw the line. Also, these drones are flying over people on a computer devised flight path while enroute. These drones will undoubtedly aid in capturing criminals, but to what end? After all, in NY state, they just let criminals go without bail and often fail to prosecute. eeeehhh I better stop before I go too far.

 

[Thomas B]

Police Drones Are Starting to Think for Themselves (Published 2020)

In one Southern California city, flying drones with artificial intelligence are aiding investigations while presenting new civil rights questions.

www.nytimes.com

Great article! What a taxpayer savings and effective safety factor for our LEOs!

 

[shaneb50]

Having drones to help catch criminals is a good idea, but this will be the start of some thing even more not good for people as time goes by.[emoji853]soon they will be used for enforcing lockdown,etc.
I have much to say, but I won’t to be considerate to everyone.
God bless you all my friends and fly safely

 

[anotherlab]

Big Brother is watching.
Now I, as a general rule, am a law abiding citizen. I however, feel uneasy with eyes overhead that can be used against us in a court of law. I am prior LE, both Military and Civilian. Emergency response is one thing, but where does that stop. Many states disallow the use of drones for police surveillance. I agree with this. The problem is: where do you draw the line. Also, these drones are flying over people on a computer devised flight path while enroute. These drones will undoubtedly aid in capturing criminals, but to what end? After all, in NY state, they just let criminals go without bail and often fail to prosecute. eeeehhh I better stop before I go too far.

The article stated that officers were operating the drone to the site. It may have been a computer devised flight plan, it was under human guidance and oversight.

How is surveillance by a drone any different than in-person surveillance by a LEO or by fixed mounted cameras? If the surveillance is over a place that is not visible to the public (like a fenced-in yard), a search warrant would be needed for the drone. The Boston Marathon bombers were caught by the camera footage.

It gets really interesting when you factor in using AI for facial recognition. Which is already being used with almost no regulation by both LEO and in commercial use. In Las Vegas, the casinos are starting to use facial recognition to identify people who have been banned. The Las Vegas PD has cameras on the trip that being monitored.

If you pass by a school bus that has stopped to pick up or dropped off children, there's a good chance that your license plate was recorded by a camera mounted on the stop arm. You're going to get a ticket and the company that makes that system is going to get a percentage of that fine. Tracking is everywhere now.