Elizabeth NJ PD droning pleads we are not big brother!
2 min read
4/8/2020: Elizabeth NJ Police Department sent out a tweet discussing their purpose for using drones. The Police Department specified in the Tweet the drones are used for “spreading an automated notice” about social distancing. However the *footage uploaded* shows no spread of messages encouraging social distancing. Rather their video appears to show exactly what they specify they will NOT do; “not be big brother”, “No recording or pictures taken.”
The footage they somehow shared (without recording or taking pictures?) shows a bird’s eye view/ (big brother view) of a town. Frequently looking down where it would be able to see citizens’ actions.
By their own standards the Police Department’s decision to record and share the Tweeted video was a poor choice. Hypocritically recording a big brother view is exactly what they stated would not be done.
*The Mayor of Elizabeth NJ later shared (4/17/2020) more in depth reporting from MSNBC which did in fact show drones being used to spread messages encouraging social distancing.*
— Chris Bollwage (@MayorBollwage) April 17, 2020
Whether the drones are used for recording and enforcement, or only to spread messages without recording how are citizens going to respond to this activity? This is arguably another case of using the pandemic to excuse government overreach.
How many rights are people willing to give up to feel secure? Has the phrase “give me liberty or give me death” lost importance with today’s Americans?
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