Tag Archives: drones

Good luck, Charlottesville

Charlottesville, Virginia, is the first U.S. city to ban drones in its air space as as one councilman put it “pretty clearly a threat to our constitutional right to privacy.” Hey, no kidding. Not to mention our very existence if the drone is armed. But will the feds comply? I doubt that even the state government is likely to pay any attention.

UPDATE:  Other cities and some states, including Texas, also are considering such bans. Could be because the cops these days look so much like soldiers that we already feel that our neighborhoods are under siege.

MORE: Speaking of cops, did you catch how the LAPD shot first and asked questions later on two women delivering newspapers in a truck that did not even fit the description of the killer’s truck they were after? They peppered the neighborhood with bullets. Imagine what these “professionals” could do with drones.

The badge gang in the air

Much as I dislike the new militarization of the police, with their black SS uniforms and automatic rifles and flash-bang grenades, especially when their SWAT teams charge through some ordinary person’s front door without so much as a by-your-leave, I have to applaud this idea.

It’s got the stupid armored personnel carriers beat. It might even be useful for stealthy following of fleeing suspects in their cars, cutting down on the number of bystanders killed in high-speed chases by the Houston badge gang without flashing lights or sirens.

There is the reasonable worry, however, that the gang will escalate and arm these things.