Pixiq

The link to the review is broken, since "zzhttp" is not a valid protocol.

This has to be one of the worst articles posted by Carlos yet. I think he may have written it while drunk. It's packed full of unnecessary lewd comments, and in general has an unprofessional tone. You spend most of the article complaining about your own issues. At 20 pounds this is nothing like the drones flying in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is most likely an RC airplane with a wireless camera on board. I'm guessing that it would be used in hostage situations or when a suspect is hiding in dense foliage. This is not the permanent eye in the sky that you make it out to be. Seriously Carlos, get your act together. If you want to be a serious voice for photographer's rights then stop acting like a "goober".

BTW filming through people's home windows is illegal in most places. That goes for citizens and the police.

Here is the drone they bought:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeywell_RQ-16_T-Hawk

$375,000 each

"The gasoline engine powered RQ-16 is reported to weigh 8.4 kilograms (20 lb), have an endurance of around 40 minutes, 10,500-foot (3,200 m) ceiling and an operating radius of about 6 nautical miles (11 km). Forward speeds up to 70 knots (130 km/h) have been achieved, but the G-MAV is operationally restricted to 50 knots (93 km/h) by software. VTOL operation is subject to a maximum wind speed of 15 knots (28 km/h). Sensors include one forward and one downward looking daylight or IR cameras."

This is complicated. Good citizens want protection from scoundrels and criminals, people want freedom from being observed, and mind you, Miami is no Walden Pond. It is one of the most horrific cities in the country. Now I ask you, why wouldn't someone want to be safe from crime? The crooks have the technology so why can't the government? I'm a senior citizen and I want to be safe. So many punks harass older people for no good reason at all except to have their perverted fun. On another level, I don't think that Big Brother is interested in what good citizens are doing in the privacy of their homes so come on now, do chicken wankers do it in front of open windows? If they do they need to face the consequences. otherwise people close the drapes, get real on that point. I would suggest not to let hysteria guide your thinking on this. Advances in crime fighting and prevention have been going on since the beginning of time. We have a system of checks and balances also so I don't think Hitler will be making a return engagement any time soon. ;) Besides which, a satellite is already capable of doing this work.

I wonder if the unmanned camera footage will get 'lost' when it might be used to prosecute an officer after they hit someone with their patrol car who was chasing someone fleeing on foot. Or will it's camera turn away?

I can see the DEA using it to find grow-ops in the forest reserves and other remote areas. More efficient and the cost of... 7 patrol cruisers?

Its good technology but there is a point where military protected technology is given to non-military agencies with non-military access and training will do more harm than good.

Will they have to employ special engineers for the upkeep at 90K per year plus parts?

You are correct. Interesting issue.

Advances in crime fighting and prevention?

Like they hit you with an IPad now instead of the phone book?

And if satellites are already doing it then Miami probably doesn't need another toy to eyeball sunbathers in back yards. I guess the good news here is that Honeywell will get paid in go fast boats confiscated in victimless crimes and not with tax dollars?

Come on, don't you know humor when you see it? As for the drone they can be, and are, very sophisticated. This is the camels nose.

It sounds like an awesome little tool. I may forward this info to my department's aviation unit for review. Maybe we can get a few of these!

@Joe Piervincenti

"do chicken wankers do it in front of open windows? If they do they need to face the consequences. otherwise people close the drapes, get real on that point."

You need to wake up and smell the coffee. A gun will protect you far better than a cop army with cameras, for the simple reason that the odds of cops getting to you in time, even with cameras, are slim.
I don't know about Miami but some southern states DO have, and enforce, anti sodomy laws. This applies to homosexuals and heterosexual couples engaging in oral sex. In states with these laws, big brother is VERY interested in what is going on in the bedroom. Maybe someone in a 20th floor apartment doesn't think they need to keep the shades closed tight.
I bet it turns into the same old same old, right now cops have dash cameras and yet blow a fit when they get filmed by citizens. Cops get drones, and then will have a shit fit when Joe Citizen starts filming THEM with the $300.00 drone shown in this article.
I'm not saying cops shouldn't have these at all, just that the use needs to be regulated. No random "peeping Tom" flights past peoples windows.

40 min flight time? seems a $20 camera on a kite could achieve the same surveillance for a fraction of the cost.

This is part of the military industrial complex, keep making expensive toys for the soldiers to play with.

At this point, it doesn't really matter if you're against this technology, because it's coming," says P. W. Singer, author of Wired for War and an expert on drones. "The precedent that is set in Miami could be huge."

YES it does fucking matter, this is still a democracy. IF the American people say NO then IT SURE AS HELL DOES MATTER>
THe FDA WORKS for US the TSA works for us and god dammit the STATE police in my state works for us.

I love the media, they are not on the left or the right they are just authoritarian.

Comment boards are a wonderful place for many individuals to populate because it seems certain that many of you are not going to be doing very well in the society at large.

Will there be reports from 'See something Say something' about unmanned no aviation marker UFOs? Activism anyone? :D

Flash mob action would be neat. 50-some hand held lasers all light up the drone at once...

Oh there are so many things that can go wrong for them and right for us, and vice-versa. I'll try to be optimistic. 9_9

The government sure knows how to spend taxpayer money don't they? $375k for a lousy 40 minutes of flight time, from a machine that looks like it should be making me dinner. I hope a flock of Canadian geese take it down on their return flight home for the spring.

Honeywell tested these things out on the Laguna Reservation, at the now defunct MATAC facility. They do crash from time to time. Somebody will get hurt or killed and a lawsuit filed. It's just a matter of time before somebody shoots one down. Somebody shot a police helicopter down here a few years ago and they never caught the real shooter, charging a Marine who was later vindicated.