Already in the UK police are using drones to track thieves. In February, the Air Robot was deployed by Merseyside police after officers lost an alleged car thief who had escaped on foot in thick fog.
Using the device's on-board camera and thermal-imaging technology, the operator was able to pick up the suspect through his body heat and direct foot patrols to his location.
It led officers to a 16-year-old youth, who was hiding in bushes alongside the Leeds-Liverpool canal, in Litherland, Merseyside.
The drone, which measures 3ft between the tips of its four carbon fibre rotor blades, uses unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology originally designed for military reconnaissance.
The battery-powered device can have a range of cameras attached to its main body, including CCTV surveillance or thermal imaging cameras.
It is designed to hover almost silently above crime scenes and send live footage to officers on the ground, but the unit can also 'perch and stare' from a solid platform, allowing the operator to capture hours of footage from a hidden vantage point.
Merseyside Police is one of a handful of forces trying out the devices which, at £40,000 each, are far cheaper to use for small-scale operations than a conventional helicopter.
They have been using the drones for two years, mainly to help in search and rescue operations, to execute drug warrants and to crack down on anti-social behaviour.
The Home Office is now exploring how the craft can be used to give back-up to police, ambulance and fire services.
Its not enough that there's a CCTV camera on every light standard and fence post in Britain, now they've got to have free flying ones ripping around following people.
Interesting that the Daily Mail choses to view with alarm the prospects of this technology coming into private hands, while the government is gearing up to use it on a grand scale. That would be the sickness I refer to in the title above. Trusting the government while fearing the people is a disease rampant in the British ruling class.
Meanwhile, a strange blue light was seen flying around on Friday evening in Centerville Virginia, pretty close to Washington DC. Gee, wonder what that could be eh?
The Phantom
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