04-04-2013, 07:04 PM
bfd wrote:
Besides the fact that one has a pilot who's actually in the air, what's the difference between police and sheriff helicopters buzzing our neighborhood and drones doing the same thing?
In principle there isn't much difference if you are talking about unweaponized drones. But in practical terms the difference in cost can make quite a bit of difference. Paying for keeping a large, complicated device like a helicopter in the air has got to be way more than the cost of a keeping a drone aloft (I imagine helicopter pilots cost a fair amount more than a drone pilot as well). Helicopters are so expensive that they are impractical for using for just snooping around, but not so with drones. Because of that cost differential, I think the temptation to overuse drones is much greater than with helicopters.