Police Eyeing Guard Drones for Drug Enforcement

C-130 pilots with the Tennessee Guard are learning how to flight remotely. The unmanned aerial vehicles known as Reapers are still stored elsewhere. Image courtesy U.S. Air Force

Tennessee law enforcement agencies are eager to put military drones to civilian use, though it may be awhile. The Air National Guard’s 118th Wing based at Nashville International Airport is transitioning to a new mission involving unmanned aircraft.

The Tennessee Guard already lends its helicopters to help police with surveillance and drug stings.

Maj. Gen. Max Haston told a panel of lawmakers it would make sense to use the drones – known as Reapers – too.

“When you’re trying to keep observation on a meth lab, if you put an unmanned aerial vehicle over it, it would not put local law enforcement or any of our soldiers assisting at risk.”

However, legislators raised privacy concerns. Haston says he still doesn’t have permission to use the aircraft except within line of sight.

“Until we get authority from the federal government to do anything with those, we cannot.”

A spokesman for the Tennessee Guard says pilots have begun learning how to fly the drones, but the aircrafts themselves are still kept elsewhere.