According to a recent news report, a growing number of major cities have begun using drones to respond to 911 calls. According to experts cited in the report, this new trend points to a critical shortage of police officers. “Some of the cities that are rolling them out are rolling them out because they have no choice, because they can’t get cops to take the job,” says former NYPD Police Inspector Paul Mauro.

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The City of Chula Vista, CA, has used drones 20,000 times since 2018 to respond to 911 calls. They were one of the first in the nation to do so. Drones were sent to emergency incidents such as crimes in progress, fires, traffic accidents, and reports of dangerous subjects to assess how many officers would be needed and reduce the number of personnel used in searches. Police in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Burbank, Fremont, and Hawthorne, as well as the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, now also use drone technology.

At least 20 police agencies in Colorado have begun using drone technologies, and the Denver Police Department is making plans to use them to respond to 911 calls due to the critical staff shortages caused by deep cuts in their budget to pay for the migrant crisis there.

Not to be outdone, the city of Chicago passed a law last year allowing police to use drones during special events like parades but not demonstrations or protests.

Progressive laws have also been passed in Maryland in the wake of rising crime and a 43% staff vacancy. The Montgomery County Police Department has used drones since last October in its DFR (Drones as First Responder) program. According to a recently published performance report, drones were used 382 times between October last year and April of this year, with an average response time of under a minute. According to Montgomery County Police Captain Jason Cokinos, the use of drones prevented the dispatch of a patrol unit 63 times. One scenario involved a man outside a convenience store who appeared to point a handgun at people. A responding drone with a zoom lens determined it was a cell phone, which helped police respond differently and appropriately.

Meanwhile, the NYPD’s new drone program is being used to supplement its gunshot detection system known as ShotSpotter, which alerts police to a possible shooting. As part of the trial, five police precincts can now send drones immediately to the scene when a ShotSpotter alert goes off – three in Brooklyn, one in the Bronx, and one in Manhattan. A pilot remotely based in the NYPD’s Joint Operations Center flies the drone to the location of the gunfire.

According to a police spokesman talking to Fox News, “Prior to police officers’ arrival on the scene, officers will see what the drone sees in real-time via their smartphones. This emerging technology stands to enhance situational awareness as officers arrive at scenes, promote officer safety, and help NYPD leadership deploy resources in an effective and efficient manner.”

However, not everyone is excited about the rapidly growing use of drones in policing. Civil rights watchdogs like the ACLU see potential problems with privacy and civil rights. They are calling for guardrails to be put up to regulate the use of drones. According to a report they published last year, police departments should not be allowed to roll out drone programs without the consent of the communities they serve.

According to Paul Mauro, drone programs also force police departments to figure out how to manage the potential deluge of public record requests for the footage the drones take, what to save, and what to delete. There needs to be significant human interaction with the drone, he says, and further observes: “So look, there are a lot of issues relative to electronic surveillance that go beyond drones, and when you’re talking about a government that implicates the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and so that makes things that much more volatile and complicated. It’s just something that has to be watched very closely.

A Spiritual Perspective

Why is it important to talk and pray about this? For two reasons:

First, it points to a growing crisis in our nation’s systems of law and order. Police shortages embolden criminals and cause a rapid increase in crime and an equally rapid decrease in public order and safety. The drone programs are rolled out in cities suffering a mass exodus of residents and businesses out of safety concerns. Police shortages remove the restraint on the abounding lawlessness Jesus warns will mark the Last Days (see Matthew 24:12).

Secondly, the widespread use of drones dehumanizes policing, which is part of the law and order God has instituted through governments. Romans 13:1-6 says: For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.  For he is God‘s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God‘s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience‘ sake.  For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God‘s ministers attending continually to this very thing.

By God’s design, law and order are established by humans, not machines. Laws exist to regulate human interaction, and while technology can be helpful, it must always be subservient to human beings. For that reason, the answer to staff shortages is not to replace officers with machines but to restore support for police, increase recruiting efforts, and promote respect for authority.

Those are matters for earnest prayer. Let us pray that:

• God gives police departments wisdom in the use of drones.
• Privacy and civil rights will be protected.
• God will incline the hearts of our people to respect law enforcement.
• God will raise up an army of new police recruits.
• God will give vision to police commanders and community leaders to improve the human side of policing.

Father, we pray for our nation’s law enforcement agencies today, especially those suffering from critical staff shortages. Raise up an army of committed recruits to fill up the holes. Give wisdom to community and police leadership in how drones should be used. Above all, we pray that our nation will not lose sight of Your design for law enforcement but will emphasize and promote respect for authority and the human factor of law and order. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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Remco Brommet is a pastor, spiritual-growth teacher, and prayer leader with over 40 years of experience in Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the U.S. He was born and raised in the Netherlands and pastored his first church in Amsterdam. He moved to the U.S. in 1986. He and his wife, Jennifer, live north of Atlanta. When not writing books, he blogs at www.deeperlifeblog.com and assists his wife as a content developer and prayer coordinator for True Identity Ministries. Jennifer and Remco are passionate about bringing people into a deeper relationship with Christ. Photo Credit: Ajairapara – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75651264.