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Drones Used in Crime Fly Under the Law's Radar


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A drone recovered by the U.S. Secret Service after its use in suspicious activities.

Drones pose novel and difficult problems for law enforcement.

Credit: U.S. Secret Service/Reuters

Drones have been widely available to the general public for about five years, and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration estimates there are almost 1.5 million registered commercial and recreational drones in the U.S., not counting the many unregistered or homemade drones.

However, when a drone is flown in a crime, authorities often have a hard time collecting evidence unless they can actually obtain the device.

Some law enforcement agencies are turning to third-party contractors for training on how to capture the vast wealth of data from drones.

In addition, there is still a question over whicg agency has the authority to enforce laws that drones might violate.

Said Arthur Holland Michel, co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College, “The use of drones by criminal groups is appealing in part because drones are harder to catch. ... The consensus is, no one has cracked the code on countering drones."

From The New York Times
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Abstracts Copyright © 2019 SmithBucklin, Washington, DC, USA


 

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