In a statement released today, the VA ACLU is asking AG Herring to prohibit cops in Wise County from using drones in their police work.



In a statement released today, the VA ACLU is asking AG Herring to prohibit cops in Wise County from using drones in their police work.

“As the legislature recognized last year, basic privacy protections and accountability requirements must be established before any drone is deployed in a criminal investigation by law enforcement,” said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Claire Guthrie Gastañaga. “The entire purpose of the moratorium, which is to give lawmakers and stakeholders an opportunity to address critical contested issues about the use of drones before they are put into widespread use, is defeated if the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s position is adopted by the Attorney General.”

There is a current ban on police drone use in VA until July, 2015 except in cases of Amber, Blue, and Senior alerts.

“My intention is not to violate anybody’s Fourth Amendment rights, absolutely not,” Wise County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ronald K. Elkins told VA Lawyers Weekly.

Elkins explained he wants his local law enforcement to be able to use the drones to survey crime scenes as they are being worked.

He admitted AG Herring probably wont agree with his request, but either way, the CA wants a final answer on the situation.

The use of drones by police officers has been a topic of debate for sometime. In 2013, Gov. Mcdonnell passed a two-year moratorium on drone use by police in VA.

The specifics of the drone moratorium include:

1) a two year moratorium on the use of drones by law enforcement and regulatory agencies;

2) a prohibition on the use of weaponized drones

3) an exception to the moratorium that allows the use of unweaponized drones in search and rescue, and where Amber Alerts (children), Senior Alerts (older adults) or Blue Alerts (police) are activate

4) an exception to the moratorium that allows the National Guard to use drones as needed to maintain readiness for its federal mission but not for any law enforcement activity.

“This is an important first step in assuring all Virginians that we have reasonable rules in place that will govern the deployment of drones over the Commonwealth,” said author of the moratorium legislation, Delegate Ben Cline, when it was passed.

Elkins believes using a “single unmanned aerial vehicle” with an authorized by a search warrant does not violate the language of the ban.

Drones for commercial use are currently banned by the FAA, but Virginia Tech is one of 6 colleges around the country selected to study drone use and submit possible regulation changes to the FAA by 2015.

There was no comment released by AG Herring’s office by time of post.