BY RACHEL LELAND
What residents should know
A closer look
When Manvel police partnered with the Brazoria County Sheri ’s Department to use drones to pur- sue a suspect at night, o cers were able to use the drone’s infrared sensors to discover the suspect hiding only ve feet away from the other o cers, who were unaware of their presence, Manvel Capt. Christopher Day said. Tasks that once required hours of tra c barri- cades can now be completed in 15 minutes with drone technology. While drones expand the department’s capabili- ties, Traylor said his department anchors its drone policy in the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. “Some people think that law enforcement is going to use these as a spying tool … but there’s speci c laws that we have to follow, and there’s speci c rules to ying the drone, to … even get your pilot’s license for the drone,” Traylor said.
Privacy Act, the state law regulating the use of drones, law enforcement agencies in counties with populations over 150,000 must report data collected on individuals and property not under investigation. Looking ahead, Traylor said his department will prioritize working within the bounds of the law. “When you start abusing that, that’s when you start losing your tools ... and that’s what we don’t want to do,” Traylor said.
Traylor distinguishes between drones used for general surveillance and for active police operations. For example, if it’s illegal for an o cer to peer over a fence, it’s also illegal for them to use a drone to look over that same fence. However, if a suspect ees a crime scene and runs through a neighborhood, the drone pilot can y over houses and look into backyards, Traylor said. Per Texas Government Code 423, or the Texas
By the numbers
1,400+ U.S. law enforcement agencies have a DFR program
2019 was when the rst department in the U.S. launched a DFR program
$5,000 ne Texas departments can owe per image from illegal drone surveillance
75% of public safety respondents in Drone Responders poll said yes to wanting to conduct remote ights
SOURCES: AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, TEXAS PRIVACY ACT COMMUNITY IMPACT
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PEARLAND FRIENDSWOOD MANVEL EDITION
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