I don't like the thought of Big Brother watching me. I like even less the knowledge that there are genuine reasons why Big Brother would feel the need to deploy drones to patrol the Homeland.
Historically, acts of terrorism, nihilism, and civil unrest have resulted in a tightening of the government's control on the population, which not only inspires the protesters to more violent acts, but which puts the screws to the law-abiding citizens. Eventually they start to sympathise with the protesters, and then it's not far to go to reach the flashpoint of revolt.
A plethora of laws guarantees that there will be people breaking the law, which then results in the government having to enact yet more laws. For instance, murder is against the law--so why do we need to have laws against hate-crime murders, too?
Additionally, cuts in funding and in tax revenues mean that there are fewer police patrolling the streets, and so turning to drones (who only have to be paid for once) seems like a money-saving alternative to putting more cops on the beat. But drones don't have families and don't contribute anything to society the way living policemen can.
I can see where drone surveillance would have its place. It just saddens me that our society now requires such a thing.
I believe there are legitimate uses for drones in the homeland, border surveillance, maritime patrol to name a few. But for normal policing I believe they will be wasted.
In Britain they place CCTV cameras everywhere and there crime rate increased. Surveillance is of limited use without the police being a part of the community drones can not replace the cop on the beat. Seeing a crime committed miles away does not deter the criminals being on camera does not scare them. Drones will have there place surveillance of large crowds or for tactical response but not for community policing.