On Tuesday morning, the Florida Senate's Committee on Criminal Justice voted unanimously to advance SB 92, a bill sponsored by Stuart Republican Joe Negron that would limit the use of drones (also known as unmanned aerial vehicle) by law enforcement officials.
"Drones are fine to kill terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but they shouldn't be used to monitor the lawful activities," said Negron. "We shouldn't as a general practice have drones hovering in the sky monitoring Floridians."
According to a Senate staff analysis, the Miami-Dade Police Department became the first law enforcement agency in the state and the nation equipped with drones, but so far has made little use of them.
Negron's bill is getting applause from the Florida office of the ACLU.
This article appears in Jan 10-16, 2013.
