[Neil44]

In terms of photography there's no expectation of privacy in a public place. Maybe in some countries that's different but that's how it is here. If you take a picture in public you don't need the consent of everyone in the background. So the police aren't doing anything that joe bloggs couldn't do. Personally, I feel the police keep me safe. 99 times out of 100 when there's some kind of shitty headline about police there turns out to be a lot of missing information from the story. I've been pulled over plenty when I was younger and had other interactions and have always been dealt with reasonably. My only complaint about the police is that there isn't more of them. So I guess we're going to disagree on this issue.

[malfist]

How are you defining public? When a drone flies over my backyard and records me naked in my hot tub, is that public now?

Mind you that scenario is explicitly forbidden by law, the drones are only supposed to record at the scene but the police are illegally recording for the entire flight.

Should the police be allowed to break the law when they feel like it? Or should they be held to the same (or higher) standard as the general population because of the extra authority we give them

[Neil44]

That's true about the hot tub. We already have helicopters but I can appreciate there's room for the drones to be more pervasive because of their lower cost. Holding police to standards isn't easy. We ask people to go out and pull long shifts, to react in complex and life and death situations both for themselves and for the public in a split second, should we hold them to a high standard? yes, should we give them a break for split second mistakes bearing in mind what we're asking them to do - also yes.

[malfist]

> should we give them a break for split second mistakes bearing in mind what we're asking them to do - also yes

I disagree. Those we empower to take life must be held to the highest possible standard. After all, there is no returning from that path once it's taken.