Surveillance drones: innovation or invasion?

In April, Senator John McCain deemed Wright Patterson Air Force Base an “attractive” potential testing site for unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones. The emergence of this new department would increase the area’s awareness of these pilotless vehicles and the many abilities they possess. Drones have caught the nation’s attention with tremendous momentum, and this is only the beginning. In September of 2015, The Federal Aviation Administration will make the drone available for both commercial and personal use, as approved by congress in February. WPAFB is in competition with several other locations to test these soon to be widely used machines. What this means for the area and the nation is still undetermined. A drone is an unmanned aircraft that is operated by remote control. Though alert of bomber drone attacks in war stricken countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan show up in headlines, the majority of drones do not carry bombs. Most drones are used solely for surveillance and monitoring, and include cameras, infrared surveillance and radar. These surveillance drones have become prominent on U.S. soil, and concern many Americans. Drone use has been common in the military for years, but American police have recently been given the green light to use them as well. In North Dakota last June, six cows wandered onto the property of Rodney Brossart, who refused to return them to his neighbor. The police were alerted and Brossart resisted, threatening with firearms. A standoff then ensued between an armed Brossart (along with his family) and police. The sherriff requested that a surveillance drone be used to monitor the whereabouts of the family on the large property using infrared. The team moved in on Brossart based on the findings from the drone, and he was arrested. Drone use in the conflict was upheld in a North Dakota court, marking the first ever use of a drone in the arrest of an American citizen. With this recent decision, many concerns have been raised as to how extensively these drones can be used, and how harmful they can be. Like any piece of technology with the potential to cause harm, the responsibility of managing these drones rests with the person behind the trigger. “The danger is not in the drones,” an anonymous ex-navy pilot said, “the drones are machines controlled by technicians and engineers. It is the controllers of the drones that should receive judgment, not the technology itself.” Though drones have the potential to do a great deal of good, they can also be deadly weapons in the wrong hands. The use of these drones by the government is already highly contested; can we trust civilians with such powerful machines? We’ll find out in 2015.