Philly commissioner not ready to take stand on police use of drones
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Police Commissioner Richard Ross (center) testifies before City Council (Tom MacDonald/WHYY)
A City Councilman says he wants a miniature air force patrolling Philadelphia.
Councilman David Oh says he is interested in exploring drone aircraft to help police do their job.
“A drone would be mobile, we are probably going to have to at some point in time register drones in our city. We are going to register drones and get a fee for them and keep track of them.”
Police Commissioner Richard Ross isn’t ready to weigh in on using the remotely guided aircraft for police surveillance.
“I don’t know what I feel about that, the jury’s out on that in a number of ways, including civil rights issues and privacy issues and I think there would be some quite concern if quote unquote anybody looking like big brother was the one doing it.”
Councilman Oh says part of a possible fee for registering private drones could help start a police drone program.
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