Spy Drones set for Miami skies

 

Look!  Up in the sky!  Is it a bird?  Is it a plane?  No…it’s a…police drone?!?  Thought that talk of flying drones was just a crazy rumor or science fiction fantasy?  Well, for better or worse, you may soon find these hovering over the skies of Miami.

From a Reuters news article dated 26 March 2008:

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1929797920080326?sp=true

“Spy-in-the-sky drone sets sights on Miami

By Tom Brown

MIAMI (Reuters) – Miami police could soon be the first in the United States to use cutting-edge, spy-in-the-sky technology to beef up their fight against crime.

A small pilotless drone manufactured by Honeywell International, capable of hovering and “staring” using electro-optic or infrared sensors, is expected to make its debut soon in the skies over the Florida Everglades.

If use of the drone wins Federal Aviation Administration approval after tests, the Miami-Dade Police Department will start flying the 14-pound (6.3 kg) drone over urban areas with an eye toward full-fledged employment in crime fighting.”

Again…several topics may come to mind after reading articles such as this.  What short term and long term effects will occur because of this technology?  What will it be used for?  Do the benefits of using such new law enforcement technology outweigh potential dangers in association with greater power and control?

With taser bracelets…cameras and loudspeakers…flying drones in public…..door to door searches checking whole random neighborhoods in the US for ‘anything illegal’…….With public and private interests listening and now even openly announcing they are watching us in our homes and cars:  What next?  Again, what are the costs versus benefits of living in such a society?

More importantly:  Does the way society is being shaped now remind us of what Biblical prophecy foretells?

What do you think?

Putting kids on the fast track…to a criminal record?

For years supposed experts and laymen alike have debated: What makes a person the way they are…Nurture? Nature? A Combination of the two?

Well, a recent forensics ‘expert’ from world-renown Scotland Yard apparently thinks that we shouldn’t leave things up to chance when trying to identify future criminals (yes, you read that right: future criminals…)

You can read about his statements online at the Guardian website here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/mar/16/youthjustice.children

Here part of the beginning of the article, if you are curious (note- emphasis mine):

“Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain’s most senior police forensics expert.

Gary Pugh, director of forensic sciences at Scotland Yard and the new DNA spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said a debate was needed on how far Britain should go in identifying potential offenders, given that some experts believe it is possible to identify future offending traits in children as young as five.

‘If we have a primary means of identifying people before they offend, then in the long-term the benefits of targeting younger people are extremely large,’ said Pugh. ‘You could argue the younger the better. Criminologists say some people will grow out of crime; others won’t. We have to find who are possibly going to be the biggest threat to society.’

Pugh admitted that the deeply controversial suggestion raised issues of parental consent, potential stigmatisation and the role of teachers in identifying future offenders, but said society needed an open, mature discussion on how best to tackle crime before it took place. There are currently 4.5 million genetic samples on the UK database – the largest in Europe – but police believe more are required to reduce crime further. ‘The number of unsolved crimes says we are not sampling enough of the right people,’ Pugh told The Observer. However, he said the notion of universal sampling – everyone being forced to give their genetic samples to the database – is currently prohibited by cost and logistics.”

Where do we go from here? Are we truly prohibited from going after potential criminals because it is not cost effective or logistically feasible? What about privacy concerns? Or do we even have any privacy rights in this new post 911 world? What has changed…or has anything changed regarding giving up freedom for safety?

Are we seeing this virtual prison…the coming bondage of our youngest children? Or is this technology and science finally finding the genetic difference between a future responsible citizen versus a future hard core criminal?

What do you think?