Thesis on "Militarization of Police with Drone Technology"

Thesis 30 pages (9049 words) Sources: 15 January 21, 2022

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Outline

I. Introduction

a. Drone technology is rapidly being adopted in society.

b. Although drones may represent a threat to government when used for nefarious purposes, some consideration must be given to how drones are used by law enforcement when policing the public.

c. What are the legal, ethical and procedural issues surrounding the adoption of drone technology by police?

d. How might these issues be addressed?

II. Benefits of Drone Technology

a. Enhanced surveillance, search and rescue, criminal pursuits (Enemark, 2021; Heen et al., 2018)

b. Real world example of LA County and Union Pacific’s need for greater monitoring of track through drones (Durden, 2022)

c. Do benefits outweigh risks? Transition to legal, ethical, and procedural issues

III. Literature Review

a. Legal Issues

i. FAA compliance (Dwyer-Moss, 2018; Heen et al., 2018)

ii. Court cases on surveillance

1. Riley v. California (Dwyer-Moss, 2018; Gruhl & Combs, 2019)

2. California v. Ciraolo (Dwyer-Moss, 2018)

3. Dow Chemical Co. v. United States (Dwyer-Moss, 2018)

iii. 4th Amendment

1. Privacy rights (Greiner, 2021; Ringrose & Ramjee, 2020)

2. Michigan case (Greiner, 2021)

3. Unclear boundaries (Gruhl & Combs, 2019)

4. Public opinion (Anania et al., 2019; Sakiyama et al., 2017)

b. Ethical Issues

i. Principles of necessity, proportionality, and precaution (Enemark, 2021)

ii. Applications wherein the public supports and does not support drone usage; privacy rights, and the right to assemble (Heen et al., 2018; Sakiyama et al., 2017)

iii. Cultural factors of acceptance (McGuire, 2021; Rosenfeld, 2019)

iv. Moral license to militarize the police? (Sinclair, 2018)

v. Critical race theory perspective and the public’s trust (Gruhl & Combs, 2019; Sakiyama et al., 2017)

c. Procedural Issues

i. Must be highly regulated or the risk for abuse and discrimination is high (Ringrose & Ramjee, 2020)

ii. Trust and transparency in how data is collected and stored (Anania et al., 2019; Jensen, 2020; Ringrose & Ramjee, 2020)

iii. Data security and air power supremacy (Bouafif et al., 2018; Klauser, 2021)

iv. Legal checks, closing accountability gaps, and maintaining the public’s trust (Sinclair, 2018; McGuire, 2021)

v. Effect on traditional policing (McGuire, 2021).

IV. Addressing the Issues

a. Conduct a community needs assessment and obtain feedback from the public (Schwartz, 2017)

b. Acknowledge cultural concerns (McGuire, 2021)

c. Give balance to the will of the public and the needs of law enforcement but defer to public opposition if it is unyielding (Schwartz, 2017)

d. Use drones for reactive rather than proactive policing (Sakiyama et al., 2017)

e. Consider the needs and concerns of minority groups, particularly their fears that these tools might be used for further discrimination and harassment (Anania et al., 2019)

V. Conclusion

a. Drone technology offers advantages to both the public and law enforcement in terms of combating criminal activity

b. Concerns remain, however, particularly when it comes to constitutional rights to privacy and assembly

c. Drones should not be used to discriminate or as tools in racial profiling

d. The public is more receptive to drone usage in reactive policing rather than in proactive policing

Summary

Drones have advantages as well as disadvantages in policing in America. They can help law enforcement curtail criminal activity, conduct more efficient surveillance, and engage in reactive policing. However, they can also open the door to more automated policing, a rising risk of discrimination, a more Orwellian police state, and a further erosion of the public’s trust in law enforcement. The public’s perception is very important in this issue and should be considered carefully by law enforcement before integrating drone technology into their procedures. The legal, ethical, and procedural issues should be understood for that reason.

The legal issues include whether drones can be use without violating the right to privacy of individuals; whether drones will be used to violate the right to assemble; complying with FAA regulations; how courts have addressed surveillance cases in the past; and what the court of public opinion has to say.

Ethical issues include understanding the principles of necessity, proportionality, and precaution; cultural approval and disapproval; the potential for abuse and the militarization of police; the potential for discrimination; critical race theory perspective, and the effect on the public’s trust.

Procedural issues include data security, how air space is used, closing accountability gaps, and the effect of drone usage and automation on the traditional policing model.

To address these issues, law enforcement should conduct a needs assessment of the community, seek the public’s feedback, clarify and justify how it will use drones, and accept the public’s opinion before implementing any program. If the public resists, drones should not be used until the public is in favor of their limited usage, which should be only for reactive rather than proactive policing.

Abstract

This paper examines the legal, ethical, and procedural issues relating to drone usage in law enforcement. It begins by noting the benefits of drone usage (search and rescue operations, surveillance, criminal pursuits). It then discusses the concerns that arise, such as whether drone usage would violate the right to privacy of citizens, how they might be used to violate the right of the public to assemble, and what the courts have said about drone surveillance in the past. It discusses the ethical issues that arise from drone usage, such as whether drones will be armed with lethal force, why the public is more accepting of drone usage in reactive policing than in proactive policing, whether drones represent a threat to minority communities, how critical race theory can be applied, and how trust and accountability can be maintained. Finally, it examines the procedural issues of drone usage, and discusses checks and regulations, data security, police accountability, what drones and automated policing might do to the traditional policing model. Lastly, the paper considers how these issues might best be addressed by conducting a needs assessment of the community, obtaining feedback from the public, developing a message to the public to justify and explain the use of drones in policing, and accepting the public’s response. It concludes by recommending that drones be used in reactive rather than in proactive policing.

Introduction

The emergence of drone technology has been rapid and continues to advance exponentially. While drones certainly can be used for nefarious purposes against government personnel, property, and resources, it is worth considering how this same technology might be used within law enforcement as an offensive tool vis-à-vis the public. As this area continues to grow many questions and concerns are being raised regarding several key issues such as legality of utilization, Fourth Amendment implications, and ethical considerations. Additionally, with the current amount of distrust between police and communities the addition of what is sometimes viewed as “spy tech” only further adds to the deterioration of trust. As this new technology continues to grow and permeate law enforcement there needs to be a great deal of deliberate and well-thought-out strategies going forward regarding their utilization. The rapid expansion of drone technology provides an opportunity for law enforcement to add significant capability to their departments, but there are some critical legal, ethical, and procedural issues that must be addressed prior to integration.

Benefits of Drone Technology

Drone technology offers law enforcement an opportunity to monitor more broadly, adopt an automated approach to policing, conduct search and rescue missions more efficiently, pursue criminal offenders with greater aerial facility, and engage in surveillance operations among many other potential usages (Enemark, 2021; Heen et al., 2018). Although drones have already been incorporated in hundreds of law enforcement and emergency agency departments throughout the US their potential usage remains broadly theoretical at this point (McGuire, 2021; Sinclair, 2018).

Nonetheless, a real world example of how drone technology can facilitate law enforcement is that of the recent looting of Union Pacific boxcars in Los Angeles County. Union Pacific has begun to explore the use of drones to better protect its train cargo in LA County after criticizing the District Attorney’s Office for not doing enough to prosecute thieves of the company’s trains (Durden, 2022). The belief on the part of Union Pacific is that drone technology can help the company and law enforcement officers maintain closer watch on precious cargo and provide aerial cover of operations. With a bird’s-eye-view of operations, law enforcement and security detail can be alerted to any trespassing and be quicker to make arrests before so much cargo is lost. Union Pacific has estimated that up to 90 containers on average per day in the last year have been compromised by thieves (Durden, 2022). With drone technology, the company and law enforcement could crack down on looting.

Yet drones offer even more benefits than monitoring for crime. As… READ MORE

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