Miami-Dade Police Turn to Big Brother with Drone Aircraft

The same drones used in battle in Iraq and Afghanistan are now going to be used against Americans. I have warned you this is coming, and it appears the Miami-Dade County Police in Florida are considering being the first police force to join the drone police state.

From WSVN-TV:

The Miami-Dade Police Department recently finalized a deal to buy a drone, which is an unmanned plane that is equipped with cameras. Drones have been used for years in Iraq and Afghanistan in the war against terror.

Many residents are concerned that the new technology will violate their privacy.

MDPD purchased a drone named T-hawk from defense firm Honeywell to assist with the department's Special Response Team's operations. The 20-pound drone can fly for 40 minutes, reach heights of 10,500 feet and cruise in the air at 46 miles an hour. "It gives us a good opportunity to have an eye up there. Not a surveilling eye, not a spying eye. Let's make the distinction. A surveilling eye to help us to do the things we need to do, honestly to keep people safe," said Miami-Dade Police Director James Loftus.

The ACLU is one of the organizations that is concerned about the drone that may soon be coming to Miami-Dade County. Howard Simon, the executive director of the ACLU of Florida approves of the drones but also advocates strict regulation of the drones. "Technology: there's no reason not to embrace technology if it makes the streets safer, if it helps the police. The concern is, though, that every new technology also has within it the capacity to threaten people's privacy," he said.

Terrorism Expert Douglas Haas, however, believes that the drones will help in many ways, including fighting crime. "This has unlimited capabilities," said Haas. "Not only is it good tactically for a SWAT callout or any tactical situation, there's numerous search and rescue applications for it after a hurricane. They could send one of these up fast and assess damage."

Residents have also questioned whether or not Miami-Dade Police can afford to purchase the drone, especially since the department has recently made a lot of budget cuts. "Nothing happens quickly in the purchasing process, and that's something that really was in place, the funds for that, a couple of years ago," Loftus said.

The purchase of drone may have been made possible through a federal grant; however, this has not been confirmed.

Wanna bet Obama's stimulus, which has proven to be a police state fund, went to pay for this? They claim that it won't be used to spy on people, but why have it? Surely they aren't going to drop bombs from this puppy.