Coming to a city near you

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August 26th, 2015 at 9:14:30 PM permalink
petroglyph
Member since: Aug 3, 2014
Threads: 25
Posts: 6227
Will this make us safer before an accident happens?

"North Dakota Becomes First State to Legalize Drones Weaponized with Tasers, Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets & Sound Canons"

http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2015/08/26/north-dakota-becomes-first-state-to-legalize-drones-weaponized-with-tasers-tear-gas-rubber-bullets-sound-canons/
The last official act of any government is to loot the treasury. GW
August 26th, 2015 at 9:26:18 PM permalink
rxwine
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 188
Posts: 18631
Quote: petroglyph
Will this make us safer before an accident happens?

"North Dakota Becomes First State to Legalize Drones Weaponized with Tasers, Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets & Sound Canons"

http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2015/08/26/north-dakota-becomes-first-state-to-legalize-drones-weaponized-with-tasers-tear-gas-rubber-bullets-sound-canons/


North Dakota? They must be bored. Isn't too cold to go outside and act up 2/3s of the year? Then when it's nice enough, you wouldn't want to waste it -- just have a picnic.

At least that's how I imagine it.
You believe in an invisible god, and dismiss people who say they are trans? Really?
August 26th, 2015 at 9:37:56 PM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
when was the last time there was a riot or civil commotion in North dakota? More bears and moose up there than people.
August 26th, 2015 at 11:12:01 PM permalink
petroglyph
Member since: Aug 3, 2014
Threads: 25
Posts: 6227
Quote: Fleastiff
when was the last time there was a riot or civil commotion in North dakota? More bears and moose up there than people.
They may be concerned with a big Canadian invasion, eh?
The last official act of any government is to loot the treasury. GW
August 27th, 2015 at 7:16:23 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: petroglyph
"North Dakota Becomes First State to Legalize Drones Weaponized with Tasers, Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets & Sound Canons"


The headline is a little sensational. When I first read it I imagined ranchers using drones to defend their property. It is just for police forces, and all installations must be "less than lethal".

Simple logic tells you the state with "very large acres of land per rural population" have a real problem just hunting down suspects. While surveillance helps the situation, it still may take days to apprehend the suspect, by which time he will be extremely dangerous if he spotted the drone.

acres per capita rural population
1513 Alaska
445 Nevada
312 Wyoming
213 Montana
200 Utah
166 New Mexico
163 North Dakota
137 South Dakota
114 Idaho
109 Arizona
100 Nebraska

Even leaving Alaska out of the calculation the other states have a rural population of less than 4 million and a million square miles of rural land. Alaska alone has over half a million square miles of rural land.

In Pennsylvania Eric Frein was a cop killer who evaded apprehension for 48 days in rural northeastern Pennsylvania in a grueling manhunt for the 31-year-old survivalist armed with high-powered weaponry and explosives. In contrast PA has less than 10 acres per capita for the rural population.
August 27th, 2015 at 9:28:20 AM permalink
petroglyph
Member since: Aug 3, 2014
Threads: 25
Posts: 6227
There is the potential for great usage that I can see with drones in remote areas.

In Alaska they would be fantastic to put into use for SAR, particularly for lost or distressed boats. Drones don't get tired and can fly in any weather, coupled with IR they would be fantastic.

I think they might have some viability for fighting fires or as mentioned finding escaping criminals.

Where the logic escapes me in the article is arming them with "non lethal weapons". Rubber bullets fired from an aircraft are going to hit all over the place, it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye. The article mentioned arming them with tasers and pepper spray. The potential for abuse was already installed with invasion of privacy. It is only a matter of time before one of these things gets sucked up into a passenger jet during takeoff and a catastrophe makes the headlines.


How many drones are we willing to afford? I have read police want 3000 in the sky in the US. Between maintenance and piloting hangers, fuel, hopefully insurance. That is like affording a standing army, round the clock to be able to remotely chase some individual out into the bush. In Alaska or the remote badlands, in winter they are not only pretty easy to track, they usually will get cold and hungry and turn themselves in. Drones in that remote of country in blowing snow aren't going to be that effective.

It is when they are used in urban settings that concerns me, or near airports. Once these things start killing people, crashing into each other, and falling onto crowds, the logic will get rethought, the money will already have been spent, and a lot of these things will corrode, waiting on a tarmac or hangar someplace. Or even more expensive, flying around the sky burning fuel with a bored operator, creating the expensive need for maintenance.

I don't know the factors for these things, but the H-65 SAR helicopters in Kodiak take 15 hours of maintenance for each hour of flight. Helo's are a lot more expensive than fixed wing, but anybody with a Cessna parked at the airport knows the pain, even when they aren't being used.

This is another thing that would be better performed and much cheaper by private enterprise with the taxpayers informed of the true cost.
The last official act of any government is to loot the treasury. GW
August 27th, 2015 at 10:17:50 AM permalink
Face
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 61
Posts: 3941
It's sort of weird. Drones with some sort of FLIR can be useful in many different cases in just about any state. Don't matter if it's woods or water, arctic or desert, it's good stuff.

Weaponizing, that's just weird. Dispersing a riot in an urban environment, yeah, maybe I can see their usefulness. But that's a huge target, in a wide open, flat space. I don't picture much urban in ND, nor do I envision massive riots. On the criminal side, I picture searching for one guy in the wilderness, and I fail to see how a weaponized drone could be useful. You ever try to fly something around obstacles? These things aren't going to be weaving through the brush at ground level.
Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it.
August 27th, 2015 at 10:33:25 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Quote: petroglyph
"North Dakota Becomes First State to Legalize Drones Weaponized with Tasers, Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets & Sound Canons"


Unfortunately, it's distressingly common these days to witness the birth of a folly.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
August 27th, 2015 at 10:36:39 AM permalink
Face
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 61
Posts: 3941
Quote: Nareed
Unfortunately, it's distressingly common these days to witness the birth of a folly.


Sounds like the birth of a great game show to me. Sort of a non-lethal Running Man. I'm not sure whether to create it or sign up as the first contestant. Either way, someone needs to get on this.
Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it.
August 27th, 2015 at 10:39:32 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Quote: Face
Sounds like the birth of a great game show to me. Sort of a non-lethal Running Man. I'm not sure whether to create it or sign up as the first contestant. Either way, someone needs to get on this.


A game show like that would have two things lacking in the original scenario:

1) Willing, consenting participants.

2) Protective gear.

You can kill people with rubber bullets. It's not easy, but it can happen "accidentally" through recklessness. Injuring people with rubber bullets is rather easy.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
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