Police in Arizona remain free to use drones -- assuming they have them -- to spy on people.
Rep. Tom Forese, R-Chandler, voluntarily gutted his measure which would have required police to first obtain a warrant from a court before using the unmanned aircraft to gather evidence. HB 2269 also would have made any evidence gathered without a warrant inadmissible in court.
Instead, the legislation approved Thursday by the House on a 54-5 vote creates a committee to study the issue for the balance of the year and report back in December.
Forese said the issues involved are far more complex than simply limiting police use of the drones.
He pointed out the concerns expressed during hearings by Lyle Mann, director of the Peace Officers Standards and Training Board. Mann said there are many valid reasons for police to be able to use drones without first having to go to court.
Beyond that, he pointed out that many police departments already use helicopters. He said the only difference with a drone is that it has a camera on board that indiscriminately records everything.
On the other side of the equation, Forese said if lawmakers are going to restrict the use of drones they need to look beyond police.
"What about the toy you can buy now for a couple of hundred bucks that's in essence a small drone?'' he asked. "I can fly it and look at all my neighbors with a camera.''
Forese also faced opposition from some lawmakers who feared this kind of legislation could undermine the bid by Arizona to become one of the six Federal Aviation Administration sites to test for unmanned drones for civilian and military use. Congress wants to ultimately allow pilotless aircraft not only to do low-level surveillance but eventually operate into the airspace currently limited to manned aircraft
Forese said even if lawmakers do impose restrictions on police use of drones, some exceptions may be appropriate.
Even his original version of HB 2269 would have allowed police to use drones without a warrant in cases where the Department of Homeland Security determines there is "credible intelligence'' of a high risk of a terrorist attack by a specific individual or organization. It also would have permitted their use in cases where "swift action is needed'' to prevent imminent danger to life or serious damage of property, forestall the imminent escape of a suspect or prevent the destruction of evidence.
mikedurham posted at 9:19 pm on Fri, Mar 8, 2013.
Just an idle question ... Who was Lyle Mann representing: POST, AzCOP, ACJC, all the police and sworn in Arizona, or was he in uniform representing himself? Last year the same sort of outcome was reached in a manner that a task force reviewing missing persons was supposed to meet. It never did. I think families of missing persons should be in line first before a new bill holding police accountable addresses a new issue ... and results in a recommendation for another task force without lejgislation being passed. I could see some new trust developing if Mr. Mann would now host two task forces at POST facilities to arrive at legislative draft bills for next session. Maricopa and Pima Counties have backlogs of unidentified bodies, Phoenix PD is always looking for missing people ... there's issues already on the burner.... It's okay to add drones as well.