In current climate of surveillance in America, there is almost virtually no way a citizen can go without being monitored.

From normal security cameras that are almost everywhere in public, to the private phones of almost every American citizen that’s looked at by the National Security Agency, it’s hard to remain private. Additionally, one new technological feature that has become popular across the United States during the past year is now being used to monitor others, but there is good use for the technology.

According to the article “Police to Use Drones for Spying on Citizens” written by Jason Koebler, certain police departments across the United States are using drones, a device that was put on the market for the intention of amusement, are now being used for surveillance.

The article reports “Law enforcement agencies that have requested permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly unmanned drones plan to use them for surveillance purposes, according to documents obtained by an Internet freedom organization.”

Furthermore, the article discusses how certain police departments in Miami and Seattle have already begun using the drones to monitor the public, although there are liable to comply with certain restrictions, such as time periods when they are allowed to fly the drones, as well as restricted altitudes that the drones can fly up to.

Besides just for the purpose of monitoring, the drones are also used during criminal investigation, according to the article. Specifically the drones can be used to for search parties to locate missing people, monitoring hostage situations, as well as for many other causes.

Though the concept of yet another monitoring device may seem extremely threatening to the private lives of United States citizens, the use of drones during police work could create many potential benefits.

In the light of police brutality, having a drone in the area that can survey and detect actual criminal activity can be useful for making sure that police officers are not targeting those who are not guilty. Additionally, video footage could also be taken from the drones themselves to ensure that police officers across the country are doing their job.

Additionally, having a small device that can travel at fast distances would be beneficial in helping recover those who have gone missing, as the article reports. Additionally, using drones during natural disasters could speed up the processes of surveying the damages that have been caused, as well as searching for those who have been lost during natural disasters.