State law now permanently lets police occasionally use drones without warrant

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Police agencies in Tennessee have been using drones for a few years. In some cases, they don’t need a warrant.

A new law that went into effect July 1 made that a permanent procedure. News 2 spoke with law enforcement agencies about how they plan to use drones without infringing on people’s privacy.

Police work can be a dangerous job, but law enforcement said that evolving technology can provide a buffer between cops and dangerous criminals.

“If a drone gets shot down, we can replace a drone,” Lieutenant Michael Foster with the Spring Hill Police Department said. “But if an officer gets shot, then that’s a whole different story.”

Foster said that his department has four drones. Each drone has a different size, cost and use case.

“It is a tool that allows us to have an extra set of eyes in certain situations,” Foster said. “You can switch it to a mode that allows you to see the heat signature from a person that’s giving off body heat.”

House Bill 1620 went into effect on July 1. That bill extended a law that allowed law enforcement to use drones without a warrant in various investigations.

“What this is simply doing is removing the sunset for the use of drones under the current parameters that are already defined by law,” Representative John Gillespie (R-Memphis) said on the House floor.

Those parameters allow law enforcement to use drones without a warrant when time is of the essence. Some examples include hostage situations, escaped fugitives, missing persons or natural disaster response.

Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) raised concerns over privacy while discussing the legislation on the House floor.

“How are we protecting our children, our communities identity in these cases if they are not the alleged perpetrators of the crime,” Pearson said.

“Drones are vital to law enforcement and fire departments across the state,” Gillespie responded. “They’ve been using them for years for the most part in responsible manners. I would again ask you to go maybe talk to your local law enforcement, your local LEAs (Law Enforcement Agencies) to see what policies they have in place.”

Foster said that Spring Hill’s drone policy is clear: err on the side of caution when it comes to a search warrant.

“If it’s a situation where we have time, 99 percent — probably even 100% — we’re going to get the search warrant and utilize the drone,” said Lt. Foster. “The one thing we don’t want to do is be that agency that messes it up for everybody else, and causes bad case law. We don’t want to do that.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.