Agencies deputize drones for crime, rescues

pe.com

At least four Inland Southern California law enforcement agencies are deploying or preparing to deploy drones – those techy flying devices that are all the rage these days – in ways, they say, will serve the public.

Those include: Finding lost hikers shivering in the cold in the local mountains or withering in the searing heat of the lower desert.

Taking detailed photos and video from a sweeping bird’s eye view of a major traffic accident or crime scene.

Peering in windows of suspects’ cars during standoffs or gun battles -- like the one that followed the Dec. 2 San Bernardino terrorist attack when shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik were killed, but authorities weren’t sure if their black SUV was packed with bombs.

“Drones are going to be commonplace, eventually,” Hemet Police Chief David Brown said recently. “ And people won’t think twice about it,” Brown said.

Not everyone with the concept of skies filled with remote-controlled cop-copters.

“Obviously,” Brown said, “the concern today is Big Brother in the sky.”