Weaponizable Police UAV Now Operational In Texas

crackspackle writes "The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office in suburban Houston, Texas is preparing to launch operations with a newly received Shadowhawk MK-III unmanned aerial vehicle, paid for by grant money received by the Department of Homeland Security. The MK-III is a product marketed for both military and law enforcement applications. Michael Buscher, chief executive officer of manufacturer Vanguard Defense Industries, said this is the first local law enforcement agency to buy one of his units. 'The aircraft has the capability to have a number of different systems on board. Mostly, for law enforcement, we focus on what we call less lethal systems,' he said, including Tazers that can send a jolt to a criminal on the ground or a gun that fires bean bags known as a 'stun baton.' 'You have a stun baton where you can actually engage somebody at altitude with the aircraft. A stun baton would essentially disable a suspect,' he said. The MK-III also has more lethal options available, capable of carrying either a 40mm or 37mm grenade launcher or 12 gauge shotgun with laser designator."

Wrong story

[iamhassi]

The story isn't the drone. The story should be that the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office in Conroe, TX just paid $300,000 for a R/C helicopter from a company that just happens to be in Conroe, TX, [vanguarddefense.com] with a business website has only been in operating for a year. [godaddy.com]

Police giving $300,000 to new local company for a toy? Why do I feel like this was a scam, that someone in the police force just made $250,000+?

Re:So what is Slashdot, now?

[prefec2]

A weaponizable unmanned flying object is definitely a geek thing. To discuss such stuff is also a geek thing. And it has always been a geek thing to play with models of other people. Regardless the type of model, e.g., helicopter or business plan or world theory or the downfall of a society. And by the way slashdot is not only for News for Nerds, it is also for Stuff that Matter.

And no it is not a regular news site. It is a news aggregator and discussion forum.

Re:This is how liberty dies.

[jcombel]

Even your founding fathers knew this when Franklin said "democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what is for dinner".

Ben Franklin did not say this. People on the internet [wikiquote.org] - trying to make their goofy arguments sound intellectual and/or support a non-literal interpretation of the second amendment - said this.