While much recent attention has focused on the use of unmanned drones in targeting purported terrorists in foreign countries, their domestic use was given impetus with the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, which provided funding through 2015 for development and integration of drone use within U.S. territorial airspace. Current law limits their use to certain airspace, but the Customs and Border Control Agency has “loaned” drones to local law enforcement agencies. We have had at least one instance of an armed drone used to kill an American citizen in a foreign country. It is certainly conceivable that an armed drone may find its way to domestic use.
There are concerns over due process and the lack of transparent and enforceable guidelines. They go beyond what have sadly become almost “commonplace” concerns over privacy. Earlier this year, a North Dakota state court refused to dismiss charges against a defendant where local police reportedly borrowed a predator drone from Homeland Security to ensure that he and his family did not leave their farm and remained unarmed when arrested.
