Police want spy planes to fight anti-social behaviour

COMMENT: This is clearly another wave in using "anti-social behaviour" as a pretext to impose institutional wisdom, punish, imprison, sterilize or simply ostracize people who fit under a label that might as well be "undesirables." Now British society will get its docile populace to agree to being spied on by aerial drones under the guise of benefitting society.

Again, the plan sounds half way nice, because they want to correct vague societal flaws-- making sure mothers aren't mistreating their newborns and keeping watch over bad neighborhoods. But it should be the British on guard to see a task force emerging from the good intentions-- it only points out that liberties are being given up yet again.

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AFP | October 15, 2006

A police force is considering using unmanned aerial surveillance drones to fly over troubled local council housing estates to help tackle anti-social behaviour in respective areas.

The police force for Merseyside, in western England, has formed a new Anti-Social Behaviour Task Force which will have a budget of one million pounds (1.85 million dollars, 1.5 million euros), and a staff of 137, drawn from both the local police and fire services, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

"It's a cheap way of doing aerial surveillance, it's a cheap way of doing intelligence and evidence gathering. Put over an anti-social behaviour hotspot, it is quite a significant percentage cheaper than the force helicopter," said Superintendent John Myles, the joint-head of the task force.

"There may be some hurdles. The Civil Aviation Authority may say that it is a no-no, but I don't think it is at the moment," he said.

The newspaper reported that police forces in the United States have used similar drones, which cost about 16,000 pounds each, and circle areas at a height of 250 feet (76 metres), flying at about 30 miles (50 kilometres) per hour.

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