Aerial drones are law-enforcement tools that need formal
oversight
The Seattle Police Department needs to work through the
Seattle City Council to put the potential of aerial drones and their privacy
issues into regulated perspective.
USE of aerial drones by the Seattle Police Department
needs formal oversight to establish operating procedures and periodic
performance reviews by the Seattle City Council.
Encourage Seattle police to learn about and put the
technology to limited, defined uses, but do not leave the door open for what is
called mission creep in other settings.
Do it by ordinance, not by policy nods, promises and good
intentions.
The council already knows how that works. A contrite
assistant Seattle police chief appeared before the council to apologize for not
keeping the council better informed on the department's plans for using drones.
These unmanned aircraft systems are hot in law
enforcement for lots of reasons, some even related to crime fighting. Money is
available from the feds to pay for them, manufacturers are looking for new
markets, and, gee, the police and sheriffs in other states have them.
The drones can be equipped with high-resolution cameras,
heat sensors and radar that can be employed in search and rescue, fighting
wildfires and tactical police operations.
How the gear is used and evolves over time is the issue
that raises fundamental privacy concerns. Safety issues with the drones, either
aloft in airspace or over populated areas, is also a worry.
Sorting out the legalities of aerial surveillance is a concern.
Anyone out in the open does not get much protection from privacy laws. Step
outside, and airborne law enforcement trolling for lawbreakers does not need
warrants, the courts have said.
Start piling on zoom lens, night vision, see-through
imaging and video analytics, and the imperatives for defining privacy,
requiring warrants and oversight climb as high as the drones.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington raises
good points and questions about usage restrictions, image-retention limits, and
regular audits and reviews of drones as a law-enforcement tool.
Give Seattle police the latitude to use drones, but
define their limitations via city ordinance.
