“Drones” are “radio-controlled aircraft,” of which there are hundreds of thousands in existence, already, and have been for a half century. Any sentient being ought to have long ago figured out that, at some point, R/C craft would develop to a point that public agencies would be able to recognize some real benefit to having them, too.
Or maybe you’re ignorant of the reality that they’ve already done exactly that with airplanes and helicopters?
There’s little an R/C quad copter can do that a helicopter can’t, but it CAN do it at FAR lower cost, and at ZERO risk to a flight crew that might become the target of a suspect not wanting to be found. Not many police departments can afford to put a chopper in the air. Not many departments CAN’T afford to put an R/C recon platform in the air.
My take on it; it’s just like guns: government has them, and you, as a citizen, have the right to have them, too. The only obstacle to citizen/government parity is the number of citizens failing to exercise that right. So, get on out there and build a drone of your own; do your part to ensure citizen/government détente.
I think the public should have them. I don’t think the government should have ANYTHING they can use to spy on the citizens.
I believe the citizens should have the exact same armament that the government has. It needs to be a fair fight.