Russell County in Southwest Virginia is perhaps an
unlikely place for the front lines of the drone
debate, but the county has purchased two drones.
One of the Russell County Sheriff's Department's two drones rests on a patrol car. They have not been deployed in an actual response. (º£½Ç¾«Æ·ºÚÁÏ/Andrew Mollenbeck)
º£½Ç¾«Æ·ºÚÁÏ/Andrew Mollenbeck
Maj. William Watson's iPhone displays what the
drone is
capturing, namely º£½Ç¾«Æ·ºÚÁÏ's Andrew Mollenbeck and
himself. (º£½Ç¾«Æ·ºÚÁÏ/Andrew Mollenbeck)
º£½Ç¾«Æ·ºÚÁÏ/Andrew Mollenbeck
The Russell County Sheriff's Department bought
two drones last September. They cost about $300
each. (º£½Ç¾«Æ·ºÚÁÏ/Andrew Mollenbeck)
Editor’s note: Some drones are bigger than a jet, weaponized and used in strategic military operations. Others are smaller than a basketball, sent airborne for basic surveillance or weekend recreation.
The label “unmanned aerial vehicles,” or UAVs, is almost a catch-all term covering a wide range of devices that vary greatly in their capabilities and purposes. Yet the use of drones generally sparks intense debate, questions about security versus privacy and even fear.
In the º£½Ç¾«Æ·ºÚÁÏ series “Spy in the Sky,” º£½Ç¾«Æ·ºÚÁÏ examines the types of drones used by the U.S. military and fears about targeted killings, both at home and abroad.