A bill originally designed to prevent North Dakota police from using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from being weaponized has actually caused law enforcement officials in that state to be the first in the US to be legally allowed to use armed drones, published reports indicate.
According to Engadget and Discovery News, the initial draft of HB 1328 prohibited the use any type of weapon on all law enforcement drones, but once an industry lobbying firm got involved, the bill was rewritten to permit the use of non-lethal weapons such as tasers, rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray and sound cannons on UAVs.
Representative Rick Becker (R-Bismarck), the bill’s original sponsor, reportedly told committee members in March that he emphatically believed that drones “should not be weaponized.” Since then, however, Bruce Burkett of the North Dakota’s Peace Officers’ Association was allowed to amend the bill to legally permit drones to be armed with “less than lethal” weapons.
Ars Technica reports that North Dakota “is believed to be the first state in the union” to permit the use of such weapons on state and local police drones, but Popular Science added that even though the bill does give law enforcement officials the right to arm UAVs with tasers and other nonlethal weapons, “current policies in the police force don’t support” their use.
How frequently are police using drones?
The bill, in its original form, also required police officers obtain a search warrant from a judge before employing drones in an investigation. Grand Forks County Sheriff Bob Rost called that version of the legislation “a bad bill,” telling The Daily Beast that he took issue with having to obtain a search warrant in order to use to drones to look for evidence.
While the new law will permit the use of non-lethal weapons on UAVs, Fox News reports that the “silver living” is that HB 1328 will still require police officers to document the reasons their departments are using drones, and mandates that those records be kept for up to five years.
Since the law was enacted, however, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported a discrepancy in the Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Department’s records, the media outlet added. While Rost’s office claims to have used the drones just 21 times between 2012 and 2014, FAA officials said that their records indicate more than 400 documented drone flights.
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