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posted by martyb on Monday July 06 2015, @01:36PM   Printer-friendly
from the up-in-the-air-about-this-one dept.

A Wisconsin robbery and auto theft suspect was captured by police thanks to a borrowed drone on May 31, according to court papers filed yesterday in Middleton, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that Marquis Phiffer, 21, stole a car and robbed a convenience store in Middleton, Wisconsin on May 31.

After allegedly stealing a car that had been left running outside a coffee shop and robbing the store at a BP gas station (he declared he had a gun, but the clerk never saw one), Phiffer was pursued by police. A chase that reached speeds of up to 70mph ended when Phiffer crashed into a parked car. He abandoned the car and ran into a marsh near Tiedemann's Pond, just a few blocks from Middleton's National Mustard Museum.

The Middleton Fire Department lent the police a rubber raft and a camera-equipped DJI Phantom quadrocopter drone used in search and rescue operations to locate Phiffer. He was hiding in the water, and when the police reached him "his shoes were floating away from him," along with a "large wad of cash," Wisconsin State Journal's Ed Trevelen reported. More cash and a hypodermic needle were found in his pocket.

Seems like the same thing as calling in a chopper, but a lot less expensive. Anyone know what the cost differential is?


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by tathra on Monday July 06 2015, @11:59PM

    by tathra (3367) on Monday July 06 2015, @11:59PM (#205909)

    But of course the Fire Department and ambulances can use them because they are the good guys, right?

    fire departments and ambulances don't have government arrest authority, nor do they carry handcuffs or firearms as part of their normal duties, nor do they have a long history of corruption, or oppressing and murdering innocents, etc. your viewpoint is illogical because you're using a false analogy, comparing the police to any other governmental agency, thinking they're exactly the same as the guys who pick up my trash or file my paperwork at the BMV. as for not addressing the true problem, the true problem (human corruption and corruptibility) is basically impossible to solve, so the best solution is prevention, preventing them from having such abusable technologies in the first place.

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