Whatever the public thinks of using drones abroad, they don’t seem particularly enthused to see them used at home.
A recently released Reason-Rupe poll of 1,011 American adults found that the public is wary of companies like Amazon.com using drones to deliver products and is opposed to American police departments using tools like drones for law enforcement purposes.
Fifty-eight percent of respondents said police departments were “going too far” in their use of “drones, military weapons and armored vehicles.” Only 37 percent of respondents said such equipment was “necessary” for the police to use in order to protect the public. Five percent didn’t know or refused to answer.
As for a company like Amazon.com using drones to deliver their products to customers “within hours,” nearly an equal number of respondents said the thought of such a service made them think “more negatively” about the future (44 percent) as said it made them think “more positively” (45 percent) about the future. Nine percent said they had neither a negative or positive reaction, while two percent didn’t know or refused to answer.
The poll has a margin of error of 3.7 percent.