Drone Repurposing

The #1 community for Gun Owners in Indiana

Member Benefits:

  • Fewer Ads!
  • Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership
  • Discuss anti-gun legislation
  • Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section
  • Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses
  • Discover free outdoor shooting areas
  • View up to date on firearm-related events
  • Share photos & video with other members
  • ...and so much more!
  • Somemedic

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Ladies and Gents

    I would like to present it to you, the tax paying citizenry, a scenario which could play out with your local municipality as it may already have elsewhere.

    A city could have a drone that is jointly used by FD and PD. Might be it's all legal with the FAA and upnto date with all the paperwork. It is kept at the fire Dept mostly but occasionally used by police... mostly for lost dementia patients or little kids. The drone cost a third of the gross national product with multiple cameras that are latest greatest... thermal and the like that can read the serial number off a dollar bill from across a football field. It is held under those sort of pretenses.

    So maybe it happens one day that an FD drone operator is asked to fly the drone over a property that has had some calls for service that arent necessarily related specifically to the fire department for the sole purpose of gathering intelligence/recon.

    Without more on the books regarding case law what are the implications or legal ramifications? Does anyone see moral or ethical issues with doing these sorts of operations? What If it were realized that this was becoming accepted practice and other sorties had been flown for the purpose of surveillance on an individual?

    Your thoughts....
     

    T.Lex

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    15   0   0
    Mar 30, 2011
    25,859
    113
    Constitutionally (which wasn't explicitly your question, but implied), 4A balancing of considerations that probably requires at least probable cause and most likely a warrant, or exigent circumstances.

    Is the drone someplace it has the right to be, doing something it has the right to do, and what are the expectation of privacy in that area... that kind of thing.
     

    VUPDblue

    Silencers Have NEVER Been Illegal !
    Rating - 100%
    25   0   1
    Mar 20, 2008
    12,885
    83
    Franklin Township
    Indiana passed a law this year requiring warrants for drone surveillance. The law says that a warrant is needed to use a drone unless gathering the same info or items without a drone would not need a warrant. So if you can’t see into a yard but want to search it, you’d need a warrant to do so with a drone because you’d also need a warrant to search it by hand. Conversely, law enforcement can use the drone without a warrant to document a crash scene because the same thing wouldn’t need a warrant if it were done by hand.
     

    nra4ever

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    25   0   0
    Dec 19, 2011
    2,372
    83
    Indy
    What u really need to worry about is sensorvault by google. Goes back as much as 10 years. No cell. No worry. Here is a new Obama phone for you. Yes the locals are using it.
     

    VUPDblue

    Silencers Have NEVER Been Illegal !
    Rating - 100%
    25   0   1
    Mar 20, 2008
    12,885
    83
    Franklin Township
    I don’t know how you think my response was off topic. We have an existing law that makes what you describe illegal. It’s a 4th amendment violation if the UAV is not used in accordance with law. I’m sure the law was drafted because some departments were doing as you described in your hypothetical and someone said “hey wait a minute”.
     

    BugI02

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jul 4, 2013
    31,886
    149
    Columbus, OH
    Indiana passed a law this year requiring warrants for drone surveillance. The law says that a warrant is needed to use a drone unless gathering the same info or items without a drone would not need a warrant. So if you can’t see into a yard but want to search it, you’d need a warrant to do so with a drone because you’d also need a warrant to search it by hand. Conversely, law enforcement can use the drone without a warrant to document a crash scene because the same thing wouldn’t need a warrant if it were done by hand.

    Vis a vis that fence you can't see over, does your department have/use helicopters?
     
    Top Bottom