Link: CBS News
Remote-Controlled Airplanes Offer Bird's-Eye View Of Almost Anything
LOS ANGELES, July 11, 2006 (Christian Science Monitor) This article written by Daniel B. Wood.
It looks like a model plane and sounds nearly silent. It costs $30,000, and could pay for itself in its first hour of use.
Law-enforcement officials in Los Angeles County, who police 10.5 million people, say it is the future of policing in America.
"It" is a drone. The three-feet-long, remote-controlled airplane with tiny video cameras can fit in a four-inch-diameter tube, and thus in a car trunk, or over the shoulder like a quiver of arrows.
The tiny drone will be able to provide law enforcement officers with a bird's-eye view of just about anything. It's intended to find lost hikers, skiers, surfers, children, elders, and more. It can also be used in hostage situations and other violent standoffs in rural or urban areas and to surveil fleeing crime suspects.
