US Police Consider Flying Drones Armed With Stun Guns

The idea of cops sending in drones to Taser suspects may sound far-fetched, but police in the U.S. are reportedly already discussing the possibility.

Talks have recently taken place between police officials and Taser International, a company that makes stun guns and body cameras for use by law enforcement, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

While no decision has yet been made on whether to strap stun guns to remotely controlled quadcopters, Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle said his team were discussing the idea with officials as part of broader talks about “various future concepts.”

Tuttle told the Journal that such technology could be deployed in “high-risk scenarios such as terrorist barricades” to incapacitate the suspect rather than kill them outright.

An indication of police willingness to explore high-tech solutions for challenging situations came in July when Dallas cops killed a violent suspect with a bomb delivered by a robot. In a similar situation, a Taser-equipped drone could enable law enforcement to incapacitate a suspect at a safe distance before moving in to make an arrest.

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Protesting in India? Look out for pepper-spraying drones

Unruly crowds in the Indian city of Lucknow had better watch out – pepper-spraying drones are on their way. Lucknow police chief Yashasvi Yadav said this week that a team of cops has just finished flight tests of five recently acquired multi-rotor copters, all of which have been modified to carry the inflammatory spray. Speaking to news agency AFP in a manner that suggested Yadav was really rather happy with his newly acquired equipment, the police chief said, “The results were brilliant. We have managed to work out how to use it to precisely target the mob in winds and congested areas.” Yadav described the spray as “very effective in mob control,” adding that it can be administered from different heights “to have maximum results.” From what we know about pepper spray, those “maximum results” will include blurred or temporary loss of sight, a burning sensation on exposed areas, and breathing difficulties.

Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/pepper-spraying-drones-to-take-on-unruly-protesters-in-