Some of the drones even "talk" ...
Whether it be to warn homeless camps of the dangers of coronavirus or to break up large crowds of people without endangering their officers, police departments across the United States are flying drones to enforce social distancing.
In fact, China-based Da Jiang Innovations (DJI), the world's largest maker of drones, announced on April 1 that they were "distributing 100 drones to 45 police, fire and public safety organizations in 22 states."
In Savannah, Georgia, and Fort Worth, Texas, drones even play a pre-recorded message:
"This is the Fort Worth Police Department. Due to the current health emergency, members of the public are reminded to keep a safe distance of six feet from others."
or in Savannah's case ...
“Due to the current health emergency, members of the public are reminded to keep a safe distance of six feet from others.”
WATCH: The Savannah, Georgia police department is now flying drones in parts of the city to remind the public to practice social distancing. https://t.co/Nq47Ykkbji pic.twitter.com/Yp6RW98E1G
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 14, 2020
Taking the surveillance technology a step further, Daytona Beach drones are actually capable of identifying a person's body temperature through FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared), a heat-detecting device.
“Let's say if you have a 103 fever. That'll come in handy letting us know at a glance, 'Are you someone who possibly has the virus?' 'Do we need to make sure you have extra precautions,'” Sgt. Tim Ehrenkaufer told a local Fox affiliate.
But not everybody is excited about the technology.
After police in Elizabeth, New Jersey, received complaints that the drones were a potential invasion of privacy, the department responded:
They insist that they will not use the drones to record or take pictures in any way—that the drones are simply to reach crowds of people and encourage social distancing without potentially exposing their officers to the virus.
"This is the largest single deployment of drones to fight COVID-19 that we know of—and we look forward to seeing what our brave first responders do with them," DJI said in a blog post. "With 100 drones helping combat the virus at 45 organizations in 22 states, we hope to gather an extraordinary range of real-world experiences that will help public safety agencies do their best work to protect the public during an unprecedented crisis."
According to a map on the DJI website, the drones were sent to the following states: Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
What do you think about the police departments' use of drones? Ingenius? Big brother? Tell us in the comments!
