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Can the police use drones to accuse you of a crime?

On Behalf of | Nov 22, 2022 | Drug Charges

The movie Blade Runner 2049 features the authorities using drones to police the state. You only have to look at how military forces use drones in war zones to realize that it is no longer so fantastical.

What you might not realize is that the United States police are already using drones to help them.

Some states have moved to limit drones

Drones are capable of a lot, including breaching people’s Fourth Amendment privacy rights. That is why many states have placed restrictions on how the police can deploy them. So far, Maryland has not, although some of its counties have.

Usually, you can go about your day free from worrying that the police are watching you. Occasionally you might see them out on the street or even up in a helicopter, keeping an eye on things. Yet generally, you know they are there, and you will not discover them peeking at you from inside your property’s boundaries.

Drones change that. They are so unobtrusive that they could be watching you through the window of your house without your knowledge. They could even enter your home, relay images back to police HQ and take away evidence without you ever knowing.

There is little doubt that the police can put drones to good use. Yet when the limits are not defined, they may go too far. If you struggle to determine how the police got a particular piece of information or evidence, consider they may have used a drone. Getting legal help to understand if they have breached your rights could be crucial to your defense.