re: #3 Political Atheist

Here is what I found a little bothersome. First the FBI buys drones. Then they commit to their use. What’s missing from that picture? Only now are they deciding (largely internally, of by and for themselves) what the use limits and policies should be.

That debate needs to be public. Just like back in the day when LAPD bought helicopters to help cover our sprawling city. Or when phone taps become possible. With each new tech needs to come a fresh debate, limits, rights, responsibilities. A public, not an internal discussion and decision process. They work for us.

Did we have a debate when the FBI started using laptops? Did we have a debate when the LAPD changed their helicopter supplier from Sikorsky to Eurocopter? What happens when the debate is nothing different than creationists plea that “we teach both sides of the debate”?

Fundamentally, the only change from helicopters to drone is that the usage of drones provides enhanced coverage and greater safety for the pilots. There really is nothing to debate here other than the type of ergonomic chair to place in the pilot station.