After the filibuster, Holder wrote to Paul, saying that the president does not have the authority to order a drone strike against an American not engaged in combat on American soil.101

Even so, law enforcement agencies across the country have demonstrated a willingness and eagerness to use technology designed for the military. In fact, the use of military equipment is encouraged; law enforcement agencies that receive military equipment from the Department of Defense are required to use it for law enforcement activities within a year of acquisition.102

That trend toward police militarization is long‐​standing and well documented. It’s evident in the increased use of Mine‐​Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs), flash‐​bang grenades, battle dress uniforms, and in the widespread deployment of SWAT teams.103

In July 2016 police in Dallas, Texas, took an unprecedented step, using explosives attached to a bomb disposal robot to kill a barricaded suspect.104 Police have also shot weapons from helicopters.105 At a time when police have fired weapons from the air and have used a robot to kill a suspect, it’s worth asking if there is a substantial difference between a police officer firing a weapon from a helicopter and that same officer remotely shooting a weapon attached to a drone.

Several of the states that have considered the issue have rejected weaponized drones. Lawmakers in Tennessee debated and ultimately rejected a proposal that would have allowed police to use weaponized drones.106 A similar bill was introduced to the South Carolina House of Representatives’ judiciary committee in late 2015.107 Laws in Virginia and Oregon ban weapons being attached to police drones.108 Florida law, however, explicitly defines law enforcement drones as devices that “can carry a lethal or nonlethal payload.“109 Police departments across the United States deal with a range of different crime patterns and concerns, and there are situations where a weaponized drone may seem appropriate. Nonetheless, police drones should not be equipped with lethal or nonlethal weapons.

It is important to remember that nonlethal weapons can sometimes be lethal. In 2015 alone, Tasers, which are designed to subdue uncooperative suspects, caused dozens of deaths in police encounters with citizens.110 The fact that supposedly nonfatal weapons can sometimes be deadly is one reason why lawmakers at the federal and state levels should ban nonlethal as well as lethal weapons on law enforcement drones.

Moreover, armed drones can be knocked down, either deliberately or accidently, and present a threat on the ground. It would be dangerous if a drone outfitted with tear gas and lethal weapons were to crash or be brought down thanks to citizen interference. Perhaps more worrying, hackers could target a weaponized drone.111

Under the theory that “it takes a good guy with a drone to take down a bad guy with a drone,” some law enforcement officials have argued that weaponized UAVs are necessary to counter potential threats from private drones. For example, Berlin, Connecticut, police chief Paul Fitzgerald has said that police might need weaponized drones to deal with citizens arming their own drones: “If someone were to put an explosive on a drone and say, ‘I’m going to crash it into an aircraft in the Northeast,’ … what does law enforcement do in a situation like that?“112

Still, Fitzgerald himself admitted the scenario was far‐​fetched. Even in the unlikely event that drones carrying bombs became a regular threat, there are ways to meet this threat without weaponizing drones.

Tools currently exist that allow users to halt intrusive or dangerous drones from up to six miles away.113 These tools, referred to as death rays, can be pointed at errant drones and block signals from their operators. Anti‐​drone net guns can also be used to take down dangerous drones.114 Positioning these tools on the perimeters of airports, where bomb‐​laden drone attacks are the most feasible, would help deter drone bombings.115 Drone manufacturers can also play a role in preventing such attacks. At least one drone manufacturer has installed software that automatically grounds drones that approach airports.116 Even when assuming the possibility of “far‐​fetched” scenarios, it’s far from clear that weaponized drones are the best response.

Fortunately, the law enforcement community has not strongly pushed for armed drones. While testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Benjamin Miller, the unmanned aircraft program manager with the Mesa County, Colorado, sheriff’s office, said that it would absolutely not be appropriate for drones to be equipped with lethal weapons.117 Miller was also skeptical of drones using nonlethal weapons: “In our experience, considering the risks of unmanned aircraft and then also the risks of use of less‐​than‐​lethal munitions … combining those two risks together is probably not the most responsible thing to do.“118

Drones can play a valuable role when police are searching for a suspect or missing person, covering areas of treacherous terrain faster than officers on foot. Drones have also surveyed dangerous areas, such as property barricaded by armed suspects, and can inspect suspicious packages.119 It is these kinds of operations where police drones can be the most useful, and they do not require weapons.

Conclusion

Drones are an exciting technology and will undoubtedly have a lasting and positive impact on a range of industries such as photography, farming, archaeology, engineering, filmmaking, journalism, and many other areas.

Law enforcement also stands to benefit from drone technology; however, as drone technology continues to improve, the risk of intrusive surveillance grows and continued vigilance will be necessary. The Supreme Court can, if the right case emerges, revisit aerial surveillance, but until it does it’s up to the states to pass drone policies that protect privacy while increasing police transparency and accountability.

These policies should not only address familiar issues associated with searches, such as warrant requirements and video recording, but also relatively new concerns involving weaponization, biometric software, and surveillance technology. With the right controls in place, police drones can serve legitimate law enforcement goals without becoming tools of unnecessary and intrusive surveillance.

Notes

1. Kathryn A. Wolfe, “Feinstein: Drone Inches from Face,” Politico, January 15, 2014, http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/senator-dianne-feinstein-encounter-with-drone-technology-privacy-surveillance-102233 .

2. Ibid.

3. Philip Bump, “Was the Drone That Scared Feinstein at Her House This Tiny Pink Helicopter?” The Wire, January 15, 2014, http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/01/was-drone-feinstein-encountered-her-house-tiny-pink-helicopter/357061/ .

4. It was Feinstein who said of the National Security Agency’s telephone metadata collection program, “It’s not a surveillance program, it’s a data‐​collection program.” Kate Tummarello, “Feinstein Blasts Critics of NSA Phone Program,” The Hill, May 18, 2014, http://thehill.com/policy/technology/206434-a-surveillance-program-or-not .

5. Kelsey D. Atherton, “The FAA Says There Will Be 7 Million Drones Flying over America by 2020,” Popular Science, March 24, 2016, http://www.popsci.com/new-faa-report-stares-in-face-drone-filled-future . See the ACLU “Domestic Drones” page, which states, “U.S. law enforcement is greatly expanding its use of surveillance drones.” American Civil Liberties Union, “Domestic Drones,” https://www.aclu.org/issues/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies/domestic-drones .

6. Matthew Feeney, “Watching the Watchmen: Best Practices for Police Body Cameras,” Cato Institute Policy Analysis no. 782, October 27, 2015, http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/watching-watchmen-best-practices-police-body-cameras .

7. U.S. Const. amend. IV.

8. For the various ways drones are used, see, for example, Rae Johnston, “Australian Architects Are Using Drones for Building Inspections,” Gizmodo Australia, May 31, 2016, http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/05/australian-architects-are-using-drones-for-building-inspections/ ; Newley Purnell and Jack Nicas, “Chinese Drone Maker Plows into Agriculture,” Wall Street Journal, November 26, 2015, http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-drone-maker-plows-into-agriculture-1448573490 ; Christina Beck, “Archeologists Find Massive Monument in Petra, Jordan,” Christian Science Monitor, June 10, 2016, http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0610/Archeologists-find-massive-monument-in-Petra-Jordan ; Kelsey D. Atherton, “Manchester Firemen Use Drones with Infrared Cameras to Fight Fires,” Popular Science, October 14, 2015, http://www.popsci.com/manchester-firemen-use-drones-with-infrared-cameras ; Benjamin Mullin, “Why 2016 Could Be a Breakout Year for Drone Journalism,” Poynter, January 11, 2016, http://www.poynter.org/2016/why-2016-could-be-a-breakout-year-for-drone-journalism/390386/ ; Olivia Bailey, “Conservation Drone Reveals Uncharted Seagrass Habitat in Cambodia,” Phys​.org, May 26, 2016, http://phys.org/news/2016-05-drone-reveals-uncharted-seagrass-habitat.html ; and Rohini Nambiar, “How Rwanda Is Using Drones to Save Millions of Lives,” CNBC, May 27, 2016, http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/27/how-rwanda-is-using-drones-to-save-millions-of-lives.html .

9. Liz Fields, “FAA Slaps Down Drone Beer Delivery Service to Ice Fishermen,” ABC News, January 31, 2014, http://abcnews.go.com/US/faa-slaps-drone-beer-delivery-service-ice-fishermen/story?id=22314625 .

10. United States Air Force, “MQ-9 Reaper,” September 23, 2015, http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/FactSheets/Display/tabid/224/Article/104470/mq-9-reaper.aspx .

11. Naval Air Systems Command, “MQ-4C Triton,” http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.displayPlatform&key=F685F52A-DAB8-43F4-B604-47425A4166F1 .

12. Northrup Grumman, “AN/ZPY-3 Multi‐​Function Active Sensor (MFAS),” http://www.northropgrumman.com/Capabilities/mfas/Pages/default.aspx .

13. United States Air Force, “MQ-9 Reaper”; and Naval Air Systems Command, “MQ-4C Triton.”

14. DJI, “Phantom 4,” https://www.dji.com/product/phantom-4/info .

15. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “Concept of Operations for CBP’s Predator B Unmanned Aircraft System: Fiscal Year 2010 Report to Congress,” June 29, 2010, https://www.eff.org/document/customs-border-protection-2010-drone-concept-operations-report-congress ; Jennifer Lynch, “Customs & Border Protection Logged Eight‐​Fold Increase in Drone Surveillance for Other Agencies,” Electronic Frontier Foundation, July 3, 2013, https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/07/customs-border-protection-significantly-increases-drone-surveillance-other ; and Shawn Musgrave, “The US Spent $360 Million on Border Drones Thanks to This Flimsy Report,” Motherboard, January 12, 2015, http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-us-spent-360-million-on-border-drones-thanks-to-this-flimsy-report .

16. “Privacy Impact Assessment for the Aircraft Systems,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection/​Department of Homeland Security (CBP/DHS), September 9, 2013, http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/privacy-pia-cbp-aircraft-systems-20130926.pdf .

17. James Vincent, “First Drone‐​assisted Arrest in America Began with a Dispute over Six Cows,” The Independent (London), January 30, 2014, http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/first-drone-assisted-arrest-in-america-began-with-a-dispute-over-six-cows-9097090.html .

18. Jennifer Lynch, “FAA Releases Lists of Drone Certificates — Many Questions Left Unanswered,” Electronic Frontier Foundation, April 19, 2012, https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/faa-releases-its-list-drone-certificates-leaves-many-questions-unanswered .

19. Based on documents provided to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) pursuant to Freedom of Information Act requests. The Arlington documents can be viewed via EFF’s map of drone authorizations: Electronic Frontier Foundation, “Drone Flights in the U.S.,” https://www.eff.org/foia/faa-drone-authorizations .

20. Based on documents provided to the Electronic Frontier Foundation pursuant to Freedom of Information Act requests. The Miami‐​Dade documents can be viewed via EFF’s map of drone authorizations: Electronic Frontier Foundation, “Drone Flights in the U.S.,” https://www.eff.org/foia/faa-drone-authorizations .

21. See “Up in the Sky! It’s a Drone, Looking at You,” NPR, December 5, 2011, http://​www​.npr​.org/​2​0​1​1​/​1​2​/​0​5​/​1​4​3​1​4​4​1​4​6​/​d​r​o​n​e​-​t​e​c​h​n​o​l​o​g​y​-​f​i​n​d​i​n​g​-​i​ts-wa…; and Eric Roper, “Aug. 17, 2012: City Cameras Track Anyone, Even Minneapolis Mayor Rybak,” StarTribune, September 19, 2014, http://www.startribune.com/aug-17-2012-city-cameras-track-anyone-even-minneapolis-mayor-rybak/166494646/.

22. “BAE has Success with ARGUS-IS,” UPI, February 9, 2010, http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2010/02/09/BAE-has-success-with-ARGUS-IS/UPI-78931265744037/ .

23. Stephen Trimble, “Sierra Nevada Fields ARGUS-IS Upgrade to Gorgon Stare Pod,” FlightGlobal, July 2, 2014, https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/sierra-nevada-fields-argus-is-upgrade-to-gorgon-stare-400978/.

24. Sebastian Anthony, “DARPA Shows Off 1.8-gigapixel Surveillance Drone, Can Spot a Terrorist from 20,000 Feet,” ExtremeTech, January 28, 2013, http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/146909-darpa-shows-off-1-8-gigapixel-surveillance-drone-can-spot-a-terrorist-from-20000-feet .

25. Ibid.

26. Sierra Nevada Corporation press release, “Sierra Nevada Corporation Achieves Milestone for USAF’s Advanced Wide‐​Area Airborne Persistent Surveillance (WAPS) System — Gorgon Stare Increment 2,” July 1, 2014, http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/07/prweb11988406.htm .

27. Trimble, “Sierra Nevada Fields ARGUS-IS Upgrade to Gorgon Stare Pod.”

28. Ibid.

29. Alistair Barr and Reed Albergotti, “Google to Buy Titan Aerospace as Web Giants Battle for Air Superiority,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2014, http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304117904579501701702936522 .

30. Jessica Guynn, “Facebook’s Aquila Drone Completes First Test Flight,” USA Today, July 21, 2016, http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/07/21/facebooks-aquila-completes-first-test-flight/87368910/ .

31. Dave Gershgorn, “Facebook’s Enormous Internet Drone Is Almost Ready for Primetime,” Popular Science, February 23, 2016, http://www.popsci.com/facebooks-full-scale-internet-drone-is-almost-ready-for-primetime .

32. According to Washington Post reporting, each Gorgon Stare pod costs $17.5 million. See Ellen Nakashima and Craig Whitlock, “With Air Force’s Gorgon Drone ‘We Can See Everything,’ ” Washington Post, January 2, 2011, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/01/AR2011010102690.html .

33. Benjamin Miller, unmanned aircraft program manager, Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, Testimony before the Committee on Judiciary, United States Senate, 113th Cong., 1st sess., March 20, 2013, https://fas.org/irp/congress/2013_hr/drones.pdf .

34. Craig Timberg, “New Surveillance Technology Can Track Everyone in an Area for Several Hours at a Time,” Washington Post, February 5, 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/new-surveillance-technology-can-track-everyone-in-an-area-for-several-hours-at-a-time/2014/02/05/82f1556e-876f-11e3-a5bd-844629433ba3_story.html .

35. Ibid. The specifications for Persistent Surveillance Systems’ HawkEye II Wide Area Surveillance system can be found at Persistent Surveillance Systems, “Hawkeye II Specifications,” http://www.pss-1.com/#!hawkeye-ii-specifications/c1a3i .

36. Timberg, “New Surveillance Technology Can Track Everyone in an Area for Several Hours at a Time.”

37. Ibid.

38. “Gorgon Stare is being tested now, and officials hope it will be fielded within two months. Each $17.5 million pod weighs 1,100 pounds and, because of its configuration, will not be mounted with weapons on Reaper aircraft, officials said. They envision it will have civilian applications, including securing borders and aiding in natural disasters. The Department of Homeland Security is exploring the technology’s potential, an industry official said.” SeeNakashima and Whitlock, “With Air Force’s Gorgon Drone ‘We Can See Everything.’ ”

39. “U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Unmanned Aircraft System Program Does Not Achieve Intended Results or Recognize All Costs of Operations,” Office of Inspector General, December 24, 2014, https://www.oig.dhs.gov/assets/Mgmt/2015/OIG_15-17_Dec14.pdf .

40. “Artificial Hummingbird Developed,” Press Association, February 18, 2011, http://www.independent.ie/world-news/and-finally/artificial-hummingbird-developed-26706343.html .

41. Elbert Chu, “British Troops Deploy the Teeniest Recon Drone,” Popular Science, February 6, 2013, http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-02/meet-baby-drone .

42. Adam Piore, “Rise of the Insect Drones,” Popular Science, January 29, 2014, http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/rise-insect-drones .

43. U.S. Const. amend. IV.

44. . Katz v. United States 389 U.S. 347 (1967).

45. Ibid.

46. Ibid. at 361 (Harlan, J., concurring).

47. Ibid.

48. Richard A. Posner, “The Uncertain Protection of Privacy by the Supreme Court, Supreme Court Review (1979): 173–216, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3109570 . “It is circular to say that there is no invasion of privacy unless the individual whose privacy is invaded had a reasonable expectation of privacy; whether he will or will not have such an expectation will depend on what the legal rule is.” See also Michael Abramowicz, “Constitutional Circularity,” UCLA Law Review 49 (2001): 1–91, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2282586 . “Fourth Amendment doctrine, moreover, is circular, for someone can have a reasonable expectation of privacy in an area if and only if the Court has held that a search in that area would be unreasonable.” And see Minnesota v. Carter 525 U.S. at 97 (1998) (Scalia, J., concurring). “In my view, the only thing the past three decades have established about the Katz test (which has come to mean the test enunciated by Justice Harlan’s separate concurrence in Katz, […]) is that, unsurprisingly, those that ‘actual (subjective) expectation[s] of privacy’ ‘that society is prepared to recognize as “reasonable,“ ‘ … bear an uncanny resemblance to those expectations of privacy that this Court considers reasonable.”

49. California v. Ciraolo 476 U.S. 207 (1986).

50. Ibid. at 210 (Burger, C. J., majority).

51. Ibid. at 214 (Burger, C. J., majority).

52. Ibid. at 211–12 (Burger, C. J., majority).

53. Florida v. Riley 488 U.S. 445 (1989).

54. Ibid. at 462 (Brennan, J., dissenting).

55. Troy A. Rule, “Airspace in an Age of Drones,” Boston University Law Review 95, no. 155 (2015): 155–208, http://ssrn.com/abstract=2482567 .

56. Gregory McNeal, “Drones and Aerial Surveillance,” Brookings Institution Project on Civilian Robotics, November, 2014, http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports2/2014/11/drones-and-aerial-surveillance .

57. Dow Chemical Co. v. United States, 476 U.S. 227 (1986).

58. Ibid. at 238 (Burger, C. J., majority).

59. United States v. Jones 565 US _ (2012). Page numbers refer to slip opinion.

60. Ibid. at 2 (Scalia, J., majority).

61. Ibid.

62. Ibid. at 4 (Scalia, J., majority).

63. Ibid. at 2 (Alito, J., concurring).

64. Ibid.

65. Ibid. at 10 (Alito, J., concurring). “The Katz test rests on the assumption that this hypothetical reasonable person has a well‐​developed and stable set of privacy expectations. But technology can change those expectations. Dramatic technological change may lead to periods in which popular expectations are in flux and may ultimately produce significant changes in popular attitudes.”

66. Orin Kerr, “The Mosaic Theory of the Fourth Amendment,” Michigan Law Review 111 (2012): 311. “Before Jones, Fourth Amendment decisions had always evaluated each step of an investigation individually. Jones introduced what we might call a ‘mosaic theory’ of the Fourth Amendment, by which courts evaluate a collective sequence of government activity as an aggregated whole to consider whether the sequence amounts to a search.”

67. Ibid.

68. Ibid.

69. Jones at 4 (Sotomayor, J., concurring).

70. Kerr, “The Mosaic Theory of the Fourth Amendment.”

71. Jones at 13 (Alito, J., concurring).

72. Kerr, “The Mosaic Theory of the Fourth Amendment.”

73. Ariane de Vogue, “Supreme Court Ruling Prompts FBI to Turn Off 3,000 Tracking Devices,” ABC News, March 7, 2012, http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/supreme-court-ruling-prompts-fbi-to-turn-off-3000-tracking-devices/ .

74. A revision of Fourth Amendment doctrine has been proposed by my colleague Jim Harper. See Jim Harper, “Escaping Fourth Amendment Doctrine after Jones: Physics, Law, and Privacy Protection,” Cato Supreme Court Review 2011–2012, edited by Ilya Shapiro (Washington: Cato Institute, 2013), 219–55, http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/supreme-court-review/2012/9/scr-2012-harper.pdf .

75. Randy E. Barnett, “Why the NSA Data Seizures Are Unconstitutional,” Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works, Paper no. 1659 (2015), http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/1659 .

76. Bruce Schneier, “It’s Time to Drop the ‘Expectation of Privacy’ Test,” Wired, March 26, 2009, http://archive.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatters/2009/03/securitymatters_0326 .

77. Riley v. California 573 U.S. (2014).

78. Timothy Williams, “Facial Recognition Software Moves from Overseas Wars to Local Police,” New York Times, August 12, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/us/facial-recognition-software-moves-from-overseas-wars-to-local-police.html?_r=0 .

79. See Sandee LaMotte, “The Other ‘Fingerprints’ You Don’t Know About,” CNN, December 4, 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/04/health/unique-body-parts/ ; and Dan Moren, “7 Surprising Biometric Identification Methods,” Popular Science, December 30, 2014, http://www.popsci.com/seven-surprising-biometric-identification-methods .

80. Carl Franzen, “How to Teach Your Drone to Track Things,” Motherboard, January 26, 2015, http://motherboard.vice.com/read/how-to-teach-your-drone-to-track-things ; and Clay Dillow, “Army Developing Drones that Can Recognize Your Face From a Distance,” Popular Science, September 28, 2011, http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-09/army-wants-drones-can-recognize-your-face-and-read-your-mind .

81. Nita Farahany, Professor of Law, Duke University, Testimony before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, 112th Cong. 1., July 18, 2012, https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/12-7-18FarahanyTestimony.pdf .

82. Ibid. “An individual who is scanned in public cannot reasonably claim that facial recognition technology captures something he has sought to seclude from public view. Instead, he must argue that he has a reasonable expectation of privacy in his personal identity associated with his facial features. Under current doctrine, courts would properly reject such a claim.”

83. Government Accountability Office, “Facial Recognition Technology: FBI Should Better Ensure Privacy and Accuracy,” May, 2016, http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/677098.pdf .

84. Ibid.

85. Jay Stanley, “FBI Wants to Exempt Biometric Mega‐​Database from Privacy and Accuracy Rules,” ACLU, May 31, 2016, https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-future/fbi-wants-exempt-biometric-mega-database-privacy-and-accuracy-rules .

86. Ibid.

87. Government Accountability Office, “Facial Recognition Technology: FBI Should Better Ensure Privacy and Accuracy.”

88. Ibid.

89. For the purpose of these conditions lawmakers should use the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Program “violent crime” definition. According to the UCR, “violent crime” includes murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. See FBI, “Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, January–June 2015,” https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2015/preliminary-semiannual-uniform-crime-report-januaryjune-2015 .

90. Kyllo v. United States 533 U.S. 27 (2001).

91. Feeney, “Watching the Watchmen: Best Practices for Police Body Cameras.”

92. “Police Body Worn Cameras: A Policy Scorecard” compiled by the Leadership Conference and Upturn, August 2016, https://www.bwcscorecard.org/ .

93. DC Code § 2–534.

94. 2016 OK HB 2337.

95. 2016 NH HB 602.

96. Fla. Stat. § 934.50.(3)(b). See “The 2016 Florida Statutes,” http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0900-0999/0934/Sections/0934.50.html .

97. American Civil Liberties Union, “Warrant Requirement for Drone Usage Now Law: ACLU of Virginia Celebrates Key Victory,” May 1, 2015, https://www.aclu.org/news/warrant-requirement-drone-usage-now-law-aclu-virginia-celebrates-key-victory .

98. Monte Reel, “Secret Cameras Record Baltimore’s Every Move from Above,” Bloomberg Businessweek, August 23, 2016, https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-baltimore-secret-surveillance/ .

99. Philip Ewing, “Rand Paul Pulls Plug on Nearly 13‐​hour Filibuster,” Politico, March 6, 2013, http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/rand-paul-filibuster-john-brennan-cia-nominee-088507 .

100. Paul Harris, “Rand Paul Filibuster Joined by Others in Bid to Block Brennan Appointment,” The Guardian, March 7, 2013, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/06/rand-paul-filibuster-drones-brennan .

101. Rachel Weiner, Aaron Blake, and Philip Rucker, “Eric Holder Responds to Rand Paul with ‘No,’ Paul Satisfied,” Washington Post, March 7, 2013, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2013/03/07/white-house-obama-would-not-use-drones-against-u-s-citizens-on-american-soil/ .

102. ACLU, “War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing,” July 2014, https://www.aclu.org/report/war-comes-home-excessive-militarization-american-police .

103. Radley Balko, “Shedding Light on the Use of SWAT Teams,” Washington Post, February 17, 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/02/17/shedding-light-on-the-use-of-swat-teams //; and Radley Balko, “Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America,” Cato Institute White Paper, July 17, 2006, http://www.cato.org/publications/white-paper/overkill-rise-paramilitary-police-raids-america .

104. Sara Sidner and Mallory Simon, “How Robot, Explosives Took Out Dallas Sniper in Unprecedented Way,” CNN, July 12, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/12/us/dallas-police-robot-c4-explosives/ .

105. Richard Winton and Garrett Therolf, “Police Shooting from Helicopters — Rare but Not Unheard Of,” Los Angeles Times, September 19, 2015. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-police-shooting-from-helicopters-rare-but-not-unheardof-20150919-story.html .

106. 2015 TN HB 1456.

107. 2015 SC H 4425.

108. Va. Acts H.B 2012, Ch. 755 (2013) and OR. REV. STAT. ANN. § 837.365 (West Supp. 2014).

109. Fla. Stat. § 934.50.(2).

110. The Guardian (London) collected data on American police killings in 2015 as part of its “The Counted” project. According to the Guardian, Tasers killed 50 of the 1,146 people who died as a result of an interaction with police in 2015. See “The Counted: People Killed by Police in the US,” http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-police-killings-us-database .

111. Andy Greenberg, “Hacker Says He Can Hijack a $35K Police Drone a Mile Away,” Wired, March 2, 2016, http://www.wired.com/2016/03/hacker-says-can-hijack-35k-police-drone-mile-away/ .

112. Neil Vigdor, “Connecticut Could Break Ground on Armed Police Drones,” Government Technology, March 10, 2016, http://www.govtech.com/public-safety/Connecticut-Could-Break-Ground-on-Armed-Police-Drones.html .

113. Mark Blunden, “ ‘Death Ray’ Could Be Used at Heathrow to Shut Down Flying Drones,” the Evening Standard (London), April 25, 2016, http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/death-ray-could-be-used-at-heathrow-to-shut-down-flying-drones-a3232581.html and “AUDS Team to Showcase Counter‐​UAV System at Farnborough Airshow,” Blighter Surveillance Systems, July 11, 2016, http://www.blighter.com/news/press-releases/132-auds-team-to-showcase-counter-uav-system-at-farnborough-airshow.html .

114. Steve Annear, “Drone‐​Detection Firm Brought Net Guns to Marathon,” Boston Globe, April 21, 2015, https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/04/21/boston-marathon-drone-detection-firm-brought-net-guns/2oSp9Brfn5rFOIYqRJmP3H/story.html .

115. The legality of these tools is an issue that lawmakers and federal regulatory bodies such as the FAA and the Federal Communications Commission will have to clarify as drones become more common. Under current federal law, users of anti‐​drone tools run the risk of violating 18 U.S. Code § 32, which outlaws the disabling of a civil aircraft. In addition, those wishing to install such devices would have to first obtain FCC approval. Battelle, a company that makes an anti‐​drone device, states on its website, “This device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased in the United States, other than to the United States government and its agencies, until authorization is obtained. Under current law, the DroneDefender may be used in the United States only by authorized employees of the Federal government and its agencies, and use by others may be illegal.” However, in May 2016 it was announced that the FAA would be testing anti‐​drone devices at selected airports, and according to Harvard’s Bruce Schneier, law enforcement can use anti‐​drone technology. See Battelle, “Battelle DroneDefender,” http://www.battelle.org/our-work/national-security/tactical-systems/battelle-dronedefender ; “British Drone‐​freezing Ray Gets US Airports Trial,” BBC News, June 1, 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36425879 ; and Bruce Schneier, “Is It OK to Shoot Down a Drone over Your Backyard?,” CNN, September 9, 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/09/opinions/schneier-shoot-down-drones/ .

116. Video released by DJI explains the firmware update installed on its Phantom drones. SeeDJI, “DJI — Phantom Firmware Update Safety Feature Integration,” YouTube video, 3:11, posted April 9, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoXAMRQoIAA .

117. Benjamin Miller, unmanned aircraft program manager, Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, Testimony before the Committee on Judiciary, United States Senate, 113th Cong., 1st sess., March 20, 2013, https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/CHRG-113shrg81775.pdf .

118. Ibid.