WINONA, Minn. – The Winona County Board ordered Sheriff Ron Ganrude to review his department drones policy. The review followed citizen worries at a public hearing about undue drone surveillance, although nobody cited any local abuse. The department has a 27-point policy On drones, which Chief Deputy Jeff Mueller testified was designed save lives. The sheriff’s office has used drones for three years to look for missing persons, to search underwater, and to help clear suspicious packages, Mueller said. Citizen comments cited incidents elsewhere, like supposed drone surveillance on nude sunbathers in the Minneapolis suburb of Golden Valley. Locally the concern was entirely hypothetical. Michael Abdoo, for example, saw the possibility of a drone on a training mission catching him having sex. Mary Jo Klinker expressed broader concern about growing police impact on citizen lives everywhere.
A drone by any name
Officially they’re called “small unmanned aircraft systems” – or “sUAS” in government-ese. The sheriff’s office bought a drone in 2018. When it crashed, the sheriff used the insurance pay-off for a $5,900 replacement. The original drone had been purchased with a donation. The County Board’s hearing was promoted by a new state requirement to solicit public comments whenever a police agency buys a drone.