KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A new bill that was introduced would extend the use of drones by law enforcement in Tennessee.
“The more tools we can give law enforcement, the better,” said State Sen. Becky Duncan Massey (R-Knoxville).
House Bill 1620 aims to keep the laws that were passed on drones usage in 2021 alive.
“They can use it to investigate crime scenes and they can use it for natural disasters, to help with kind of an emergency, natural disasters,” Massey said. “And it says that they cannot use it preemptively to find probable cause, to issue a search warrant or an arrest warrant, and the data is deleted after 15 days unless it is needed in a criminal prosecution.”
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The bill provides if a drone is used within federal aviation rules, law enforcement can use them without a search warrant in cases to: investigate a crime scene, provide aerial coverage in cases of natural disasters, or to enhance security with the property owner’s consent.