The Illinois State Police was recently lucky enough to receive Federal Aviation Administration to use drones. But the police department clearly senses societal tensions over their use, because it’s trying very hard not to use the D word.
Indeed, Ars Techinca points out that the police department old the Sun-Times Media Wire that the word drone “carries the perception of pre-programmed or automatic flight patterns and random, indiscriminate collection of images and information.” Instead, the police will speak of its “unmanned aircraft system.”
For what it’s worth, Illinois State Police has worked with the American Civil Liberties Union to protect the rights of state citizens ahead of using drones. Unsurprisingly, it also insists that this is not a surveillance program. There’s no real reason for it to worry then, one assumes. Doth they protest too much? [Sun-Times Media Wire via Ars Technica via Engadget]
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