Initially, Rick Becker's House Bill 1328 was designed to place a ban on police drone usage. However, it was later altered to only apply to the use of deadly weaponry. Non-lethal weapons such as tear gas, pepper spray and Tasers may now be used to counter criminal activity.
Bruce Burkett of the North Dakota Peace Officers Association was given permission by the state house committee to amend HB 1328 to allow only non-lethal weapons to be used by police drones.
"This is one I'm not in full agreement with. I wish it [banned] any weapon," Representative Rick Becker said at a hearing in March. "In my opinion there should be a nice, red line: Drones should not be weaponized. Period."
"Less than lethal" weapons are not entirely harmless though. Police Tasers used by US police have killed at least 39 people so far in 2015. For comparison's sake, according to a June article in the Guardian, only 55 people, total, have been killed by police officers in England and Wales in the last 24 years.
Becker has expressed concern about law enforcement officers firing at criminal suspects at a distance, and drew a comparison to US Air Force drones bombing ISIL targets from more than 5,000 miles away.
He stressed a depersonalization of pilots when they "are not on the ground."
Sheriff Bob Rost said that his drones are equipped with nothing but cameras and thus do not pose a threat, nor require a warrant.
The number of drones involved in operations has been kept confidential ever since. Initial statistics were disguised by the sheriff, who said they would be revealed only after the state attorney appealed.
According to lobbyists, drone usage would be limited to non-criminal cases such as for surveillance photos or for looking for a missing person.
It's a great day to fly my drone! #7DayStretch @prAna @NorthDakota pic.twitter.com/HjdEZeC3Mx
— Getting Stamped (@GettingStamped) August 24, 2015
The list of the legislation's opponents extended to local business leaders, who are wary about what these eyes in the sky will do or won't do for their markets.
Keith Lund from the Grand Forks Regional Economic Development Corporation said "If [a law] is somehow limiting commercial, law enforcement development… that is a negative in terms of companies looking and investing in opportunities in the state of North Dakota."
Such concerns can be attributed to the oil bust the state recently experienced; the drones are like a breath of fresh air there, where employment has grown recently along with the role of the private sector.
