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Monday, January 16, 2012

Drones Slowly Becoming a Fact of Life



Grand Junction, Colorado - Denver's ABC-7 seems to be in preemptive spin mode with the idea of having drones keeping an eye on the residents of Mesa county.  It reports:

The Mesa County Sheriff's Department has purchased a small drone aircraft for $14,000 to use in investigations and in search and rescue operations...The sheriff's department is test-flying the aircraft and expects it will be ready for use within the next couple of months. Officials said the department has FAA permission to fly the drone anywhere in Mesa County in daylight hours.

Now I don't doubt what else is present in the article, that it will help find lost hikers and bikers, but just like what happened in Montana and other western states it will more than likely be used on civilians too.  The station then went on to praise the drone's looks and abilities, never stopping to question the real possibility it may be used on citizens.

Sheriff's officers demonstrated the 4-foot-long, 9-pound vehicle Friday. The plane can stay airborne for an hour, fly at an altitude of 400 feet and send video and infrared images to ground controllers...Officials said the plane could also be useful for observation during wildfires. The plane has manual pilot capabilities but is most useful and efficient on autopilot, allowing its operators to type into a computer where they want the plane to fly. "You tell it where to go, and it will continuously fly over those parameters you set for it," [sherriff's spokeswoman Heather] Benjamin said.

It will only be a matter of time before seeing drones in the skies for no reason will become commonplace.  Right now we are just being normalized to it.

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