Authorities in the UK have begun using drones with loud speakers to direct the public to comply with public health measures announced on Monday to allegedly limit the spread of the novel coronavirus:
On Thursday, the Neath Port Talbot Council, which serves the Welsh towns of Neath and Port Talbot, said it is working with local police and the Safer Neath Port Talbot Community Partnership to deploy drones “to distribute public information” in the area.
The police and community groups say they’re focusing areas where people are not following government social distancing recommendations.
“The drones are equipped with speakers that will transmit messages directly to the public,” said the Neath Port Talbot Council via Twitter. “We are reminding residents to stay at home except for: shopping for necessities, obtaining medical supplies, one period of daily exercise, and traveling to and from essential work.”
The post includes video of a drone lifting off from the pavement outside a SpecSavers optical retail store. A polite but emphatic voice can be heard from the drone’s on-board speaker directing anyone within earshot to follow government rules and stay home.
The shadow of what appears to be the drone’s operator can be seen at the left edge of the frame as the video begins, which calls into question the need for a drone in the first place.
As Twitter user Frazer Shaw pointed out the obvious, “You know you could do the same thing with an officer and a megaphone and it would have much less of a creepy ‘Judge Dredd police vibe’, right?”
South Wales Police didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
UK-based privacy group Big Brother Watch denounced the drone public announcement scheme as Orwellian. “Drones are an unnecessarily sinister way of communicating public health advice,” the group said via Twitter. “It must stop.”
There’s no sign it will. Police in the UK have been testing drones at least since 2007 and they’re increasingly used for law enforcement-oriented surveillance around the globe.
Whatever ‘rights’ that citizens have in the U.K. come only at the discretion of the ‘authorities’ who can infringe upon your so-called ‘privacy’ whenever it suits them.
As the U.K.’s population rapidly becomes more racially diverse, the size of the Police State required to ‘keep the peace’ has increased exponentially.
Like all Bolshevik socialist experiments, a ‘snitch culture’ is encouraged where everyone potentially becomes the eyes and ears of the ‘authorities’ whose duty it is to punish all those who are a ‘threat’ to the artificial social ‘order’.
People must be trained to live in fear and accept constant surveillance for the ‘greater good’.
Expect a knock on your door at any minute to be questioned about a comment you left on Facebook.
You apparently object to this experiment in diversity.
It is our job to make sure you will see the error of your ways.
Need to develop a cheap surface to air missile.
It’s called a bullet 😉
And ironically, from what I have read, the drones are made in china…
Look like pretty easy to hit targets to me.
Just as I thought…McDonald’s and Walmart are still open. TV, internet, and phones still work. No one will be too concerned until ‘Judge Dredd’ does come to your door, and even then I’m not so sure…
Moral of the story: Repent to God. Follow His Laws. Only in Christ is true freedom found.