Drone rule.

• Author: Tuccille, J.D.
• Position: Aircraft guidelines - Brief article

DRONES--UNMANNED aircraft capable of surveillance and, if armed, attacking targets--have assumed a more prominent role in military and police armories in the last several years. In August, responding to fears about safety and privacy, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) published guidelines for the use of drones. The guidelines are not binding, but they offer an industry standard against which law enforcement agencies can be judged.

Recommended Guidelines for the Use of Unmanned Aircraft, compiled by the IACP's Aviation Committee, addresses civil libertarian concerns that drones' high-profile overseas role as robotic assassins will be imported for domestic use. It says "equipping the aircraft with weapons of any type is strongly discouraged."

With regard to privacy, the guidelines suggest that drone operators "secure a search warrant prior to conducting the flight" if there is reason to believe the unmanned aircraft "will collect evidence of criminal wrongdoing and if the [drone] will intrude upon...