The New York Times has picked up on the theme we were discussing last week, of amateurs using UAVs (or FPV aircraft) to monitor police activity at protests.
An important point raised in the article:
Despite the quality of the images, though, RoboKopter might not see a rush of orders from newsrooms just yet.
One reason is that while there is no doubt that similar aerial videos of the Occupy Wall Street protests would have gotten widespread airplay on American television this week, it is unlikely that the New York Police Department, which closed the airspace above Lower Manhattan during Tuesday’s raid, would have taken kindly to a flock of drone journalists.
Comments
Why stop at blaming Chris? What about the company hosting DIYD? The Internet as a whole! Let's shut the lot down!
Fab: **THE PILOT** is responsible for the pilot's actions. No-one else. No-one is glamorising this, recommending it or anything else. It's discussion, it's what the board is for.
I can't wait until cops get their own and the epic air jousting that will occur. Although maybe I just live in a city that has really bad cops so I expect them to do stuff like that.
@Dave: The New York Times? ;)
Come on Fab. Where did Chris promote this activity? He's just linking to a story that mentions the use of drones in this manner.
If you read the full article, it mentions how the most important footage of the event was captured by journalists on foot. If you watch the video, it's apparent that the most common head injury is also caused the old fashioned way.
And speaking of that, I'm confused about what the video shows. The lead-in says: "of protesters attacking bystanders and police officers kicking and punching protesters in their custody" The video is not really clear what's happening. The man in the brown coat starts kicking the guy in the blue coat for no apparent reason. Is that a protester or a non-uniform officer or what? Because immediately after it appears a police man runs up and continues the assault?
What is going on?
"We will know who to blame"
Who would that be Fab?
Yep. And when some idiot with a half baked community beta copter injures or kills someone for the sake of a post on DIYd, we will know who to blame.
Get out there making films guys, Chris wants you flying over peoples heads. Oh wait a minute, better check your insurance first.
One big reason why a news organization or any corporation will be hesitant to use sUAS is the fact that you are going to have a very hard time getting any insurer to give you a policy that will cover their use. Can you imagine if that quad had failed and hit a pedestrian. A private individual may be willing to take the risk but large corporations I think not.
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