Posted on April 23, 2013

Sen. Rand Paul: I'm Not Against Using Drones To Find Criminals

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on the need for a trial by jury for the Marathon bombing suspect and the use of drones to find criminals.





CAVUTO: I was thinking of you when I saw this image of this guy hiding in that boat the back yard. And I thought, apparently with this thermal imaging, you can see a person behind a wall or, in this case, a cover. And I’m thinking, what else can be seen? I didn’t even know they had that ability with a helicopter to do that, but then again, I’m not Wernher von Braun here, I’m just an anchor. I’m telling you, then they have the ability to look at me in my home, you in your home, or anyone in their home. Now this was to a desired end, to track down a bad guy, an alleged bad guy, but--



PAUL: Here’s the distinction, Neil. I’ve never argued against any technology being used when you have an imminent threat, an active crime going on. If someone comes out of a liquor store with a weapon and 50 dollars in cash, I don’t care if a drone kills him or a policeman kills him. But it’s different if they want to fly over your hot tub or your yard just because they want to do surveillance on everyone and they want to watch your activities.



CAVUTO: What if, in pursuit of a crime, they discover something else that looks bad?



PAUL: We shouldn’t be willy-nilly looking into everyone’s back yard into what they’re doing. But if there is a killer on the loose in a neighborhood, I’m not against drones being used to search them out, heat-seeking devices being used, I’m all for law enforcement, I’m just not for surveillance when there’s not probable cause that a crime’s been committed. So, most of the time, you get a warrant, but if someone’s actively running around with a gun, you don’t need a warrant. That’s the way the system works.