The Connecticut state legislature is considering a bill that, if passed, would make the state the first in the country to permit police to use drones armed with deadly weapons. The proposed legislation would also ban weaponized drones for non-police use.
Civil liberties advocates raised immediate concerns about whether lethal, airborne weaponry is appropriate for local policing, citing the risk of misuse. "We're not in warfare here," said David McGuire of the Connecticut ACLU. Drones foster "a level of separation that makes it almost video game like where [police are] detached from the actual situation," McGuire added, expressing concern that the psychological distance a drone creates would lower the bar for officers to engage in use of force.
The bill's supporters suggest the deadly drones would only be used in extreme, active-shooter situations, much like the original purpose of SWAT teams. Today, fewer than one in 10 SWAT raids serve that purpose.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
North Dakota already permits armed drone use in police work, but the weapons must be non-lethal, like tear gas dispensers or stun guns. Maine and Virginia, by contrast, have banned police use of armed drones of any kind.
-
Bluetoothing: the phenomenon driving HIV spike in FijiUnder the Radar ‘Blood-swapping’ between drug users fuelling growing health crisis on Pacific island
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Book reviews: ‘We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution’ and ‘Will There Ever Be Another You’Feature The many attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution and Patricia Lockwood’s struggle with long Covid
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan churchSpeed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school massSpeed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bailSpeed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambushSpeed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrialSpeed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside homespeed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confessionspeed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
