City of Walnut Creek Passes on Use of Drones to Monitor ‘Rowdy’ Behavior
At its meeting on May 5, 2015, the City of Walnut Creek considered whether its police force should use drones to monitor late night rowdy behavior on weekends. Its police chief, Thomas Chaplin, told the City Council that he had “no desire to embark on [the] journey” of exploring use of drones. He expressed particular concerns regarding privacy issues arising from possible appearance of any drone video on YouTube. Interestingly, the skepticism over the use of drones was contrasted with more enthusiastic support for use of body cameras.