About a dozen police departmentents in the U.S. operate drone-as-first-responder programs

Good news! We need more of it! Lack of witnesses or evidence is one of the most common reasons why too many criminals get away unpunished or insufficiently punished! Let's catch the perpetrators in the act or follow them on their escape from the crime scene!

These programs will also help to keep police officers accountable for their actions!

I am afraid that exaggerated privacy concerns etc. will prevent or severely curtail the wider use of such programs!

I believe, the article did not mention the use of face recognition technology in conjunction with these drones. Would it not be cool if the suspect could be immediately on the spot be identified as e.g. a repeat offender or career criminal?

"In the skies above Chula Vista, California, where the police department runs a drone program 10 hours a day [only 10 hours a day???], seven days a week, [from four launch sites] ...

Chula Vista is one of a dozen departments in the US that operate what are called drone-as-first-responder programs, where drones are dispatched by pilots, who are listening to live 911 calls, and often arrive first at the scenes of accidents, emergencies, and crimes, cameras in tow. ..."

"... More than 1,500 departments across the country now use them, mostly for search and rescue as well as to document crime scenes and chase suspects. Their use is limited, in a majority of cases, by the US Federal Aviation Administration, which requires that police departments fly drones only within operators’ line of sight. But starting in 2019, the agency began offering BVLOS (“beyond visual line of sight”) waivers, opening up the possibility of longer flights, remote operation, and more efficient and expansive fleets.  ...
The FAA is widely expected to fully legalize BVLOS within the next few years, which would make it easier for other such programs to launch ...
the sheriff-elect in Las Vegas, Nevada, already announced plans to pre-position hundreds of drones citywide to respond rapidly to crimes and shootings.  ..."

Welcome to Chula Vista, where police drones respond to 911 calls | MIT Technology Review

Princeton University: Race and policing in America

Yes, there are many flawed research studies about this subject out there! To make skin color the subject of research into policing is itself extremely flawed and unscientific! This is ideology driven research! Terrible!

Race and policing in America – Discovery: Research at Princeton

This is the propaganda image the elite Princeton University used for this article! Shameful! Joseph Goebbels could not have done it better!

Irrelevant Whether Michael Brown Was A Recent Robbery Suspect?

Posted: 8/15/14

Trigger

Just read “Police Now Claim Michael Brown Was a Robbery Suspect UPDATE: Admit Officer Didn't Know That When Interaction Started”. It almost seems that the story gets more confusing by the minute.

The article written by an associate editor at libertarian Reason 24/7 claims at the bottom “The FPD's police chief has admitted Wilson did not know Brown was a robbery suspect when the interaction began, making it irrelevant to the question of whether the shooting was justified.” (emphasis added). From listening to NPR today, I had the same impression.

It appears that the police department of Ferguson, Missouri mishandled public relations to an unbelievable extent let alone that this police department chose a very poor strategy to respond to legitimate protests, illegal rioting and looting. Again, I have to admit that I did not follow the details of the shooting of Michael Brown by police very closely.

I really do not like the racial overtones of this case! In particular, the white police department in a black suburban neighborhood narrative. It is absurd.

A Robbery Suspect

If we assume for a moment that Mr. Brown before his shooting was indeed robbing a convenience store, then this matters a lot no matter whether or not the police officer, who shot Mr. Brown, knew about it or not. It could actually be quite irrelevant whether the police officer knew or not.

Unfortunately, the above article does not mention whether Mr. Brown used a gun or not during his robbery. According to this LA Times article, which  included the video footage, it appears that Mr. Brown was unarmed, but he used reported to have used strong arm tactics to steal the box of cigars. If this indeed happened that would indicate that Mr. Brown had a serious attitude problem and it could indicate that this was likely not his first robbery.

The mindset and behavior of a man who commits robberies like that is different from someone who makes an honest living.