Drone
Photograph ©2016 by Brian Cohen.
Brian Cohen·
2019 Novel Coronavirus
··9 min read

More Flights in the Skies Now — But Not by Airplanes

At the time this article was written, at least 139,378 people — or slightly greater than 6.71 percent — have died of the minimum of 2,074,529 confirmed cases worldwide, according to this situation dashboard from the World Health Organization pertaining to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus…

More Flights in the Skies Now — But Not by Airplanes

…so the concept of distancing ourselves at least six feet from each other to ensure that more cases are not confirmed due to the contagiousness of the virus possibly being airborne for a certain period of time would seem like a logical solution — yet some people not only flagrantly ignore that recommendation, but they also purposely gather close together in large groups as though no pandemic existed.

Enter the use of drones by police departments, which are increasing around the United States.

In addition to such cities as Savannah and Daytona Beach as only two examples, Elizabeth in New Jersey — in which the southern half of Newark International Airport is located — has been using drones to monitor people from the air to ensure that they are maintaining the acceptable minimum distance from each other…

…but some people have expressed concern with being monitored and evoke the concept of “big brother” — which originated in the fictitious dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell in which the government exercised total control over the people within its constituency — claiming that the use of drones to watch over people is an infringement upon their rights.

In response to that concern, the following statement was posted at the official Twitter account of the police department which serves the city of Elizabeth:

“Regarding comments on drones, we are trying to save lives, not be big brother. If this plan saves 1 life, then its worth it. All its doing is spreading an automated notice about social distance. No recording or pictures are taken, just a tool of encouragement to follow the rules.”

Summary

Many cities already use video surveillance cameras to monitor the actions of people on the streets as a safety measure to either prevent crime or to mitigate its occurrence. Are the use of those cameras effective measures in helping to ensure the safety of people as they go about their daily lives — and is the use of drones any different as yet another tool for law enforcement…

…or do they infringe upon the rights of citizens to the point of heading one step closer towards a dystopian future, as some responses to the aforementioned message claim?

See also

I cannot wait until the day when more commercial airplanes take to the skies again — and I am a passenger aboard at least one of them…

This article is the latest in a series pertaining to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus — which is also known as COVID-19 or 2019-nCoV or SARS-CoV-2 — pandemic in an effort to get the facts out with information derived from reliable sources…

…as well as attempt to maintain a reasoned and sensible ongoing discussion towards how to resolve this pandemic.

Other articles at The Gate which pertain to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus include:

Photograph ©2016 by Brian Cohen.

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