Mr. Awono, I love this topic. It holds a special place in my public safety career. Several years ago I was the only dispatcher in the state of California to be invited by the Police Officer Standards and Training unit to participate as a subject matter expert on the use and implementation of UAS/UAV operations for law enforcement agencies throughout the state.

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Mr. Awono,

I love this topic. It holds a special place in my public safety career. Several years ago I was the only dispatcher in the state of California to be invited by the Police Officer Standards and Training unit to participate as a subject matter expert on the use and implementation of UAS/UAV operations for law enforcement agencies throughout the state.

I agree that drones are one of the most powerful tools to be implemented in public safety in recent decades. They will, eventually, replace traditional rotor wing aircraft for public safety surveillance use. I believe this to be several decades away, but I still believe it will occur. The current uses for sUAS/sUAV in public safety are like the tip of the iceberg. The overwhelming majority of operational and tactical uses of the tech have yet to be implemented or discovered. And that is just on the law enforcement side of public safety. The fire/EMS side of public safety will soon start to see the benefits and will also soon implement the tech for their own operations.

One of the largest operational issues with the implementation and deployment of sUAV/sUAS technology is the public buy in. the use of drones as a law enforcement tool still new, and the amount of vetted case law surrounding them is still limited. There is some, especially as it pertains to surveillance operations, but it is still limited. To my knowledge as of now there is are no “landmark” supreme court cases surrounding the tech and law enforcement. The potential political repercussions especially for lower levels of elected office and sUAV/sUAS use can be severe if they approve such tech for public safety without first properly vetting the use with the community. There is great potential for civil rights and privacy infringements with the technology.

Jeff