Despite the growing use of drones and robots in police work, most police departments lack policies and standards regulating acceptable use of these technologies, Governing reports. Robots have been used to spray tear gas in rooms with barricaded suspects, disarm suspects, and even in one case, in Dallas, kill an active shooter by setting off an explosive. Drones have helped first responders better locate victims at the scene of an accident, search for criminal suspects or even monitor city beaches for potential shark activity. “The use of robots and drones by law enforcement has really exploded in recent years. They used to be kind of a niche tool, and they're quickly becoming a mainstream policing tool,” says Max Isaacs, director of technology law and policy at the Policing Project, part of the New York University School of Law. But, while acquisition of drones and robots has risen, regulations around their use have lagged behind.
When it comes to rules and standards around acceptable uses of police drones and robots, “in most departments in the country, there is absolutely none. There are no standards. There are no policies,” says Matthew Guariglia, senior policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). That creates risk of misuse, including deploying robots in ways that hurt someone or using them to conduct surveillance in ways that might conflict with First Amendment rights, Guariglia says. The Policing Project is trying to change that and recently released a policy framework it hopes could guide jurisdictions in adding such rules. The Policing Project’s proposed policy framework argues that robots shouldn’t conduct lethal or non-lethal force and should only physically make contact with a human in certain circumstances, like to protect them during a search and rescue effort. Among the core recommendations: Even if robots can move autonomously, a human must oversee, and be accountable for, its interactions. Warrants generally should be required before robots or drones surveil or enter a property that would require a human officer to get a warrant — and for flyover surveillance of private property. Aircraft flyovers don’t require warrants, but the Policing Project says that drones’ surveillance capabilities intrude more on privacy and so require a different treatment.
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