Could "non-lethal" drones be coming to a police department near you?
This is not a joke, this really happened. Although it was not the original intent, North Dakota's House Bill 1328 makes it legal for police to used drones with
non-lethal weapons:
The bill’s stated intent was to require police to obtain a search warrant from a judge in order to use a drone to search for criminal evidence. In fact, the original draft of Representative Rick Becker’s bill would have banned all weapons on police drones.
Then Bruce Burkett of the North Dakota Peace Officer’s Association was allowed by the state house committee to amend HB 1328 and limit the prohibition only to lethal weapons. “Less than lethal” weapons like rubber bullets, pepper spray, tear gas, sound cannons, and Tasers are therefore permitted on police drones.
And so it was. The bill passed, despite objections from the bill's sponsor:
Becker, the bill’s Republican sponsor, said he had to live with it.
“This is one I’m not in full agreement with. I wish it was any weapon,” he said at a hearing in March. “In my opinion there should be a nice, red line: Drones should not be weaponized. Period.”
On the upside, the bill does require more transparency on drone usage by police:
The law also mandates transparency, requiring police officers to report how frequently and in what situations they use UAVs and to retain flight data for five years after it’s collected.
But so far, the reports from Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Department don’t jive with reports from the FAA, which require law enforcement officials to notify them when a drone has been deployed.
According to the FAA, 401 drone operations were reported between 2012 and 2014 in Grand Forks, but Sheriff Bob Rost and Sheriff deputy Al Frazier, who pilots the drones, report only 21 missions, writes Glawe.
You can read more
here on the booming drone industry in North Dakota and the case that sparked this legislation from the get-go.