Imagine you and your family are quietly puttering down a country lane.  In your rearview mirror you see a vehicle approaching.

And it’s going fast!

Before you have time to think to pull out of the way, the vehicle behind you slows down and comes to a halt.

Then, you suddenly realise you’d heard a loud buzzing sound overhead for the last minute or so.

Sky Patrol to the Rescue!

Unbeknownst to you, a UAV had been alerted to an alleged perpetrator of a convenience store robbery.

CCTV footage had been analysed in realtime, the licence plate information extracted and sent to a UAV clearinghouse where one of a roving fleet of UAVs identified the vehicle and followed it.

When the UAV spotted the potential danger to passengers in a vehicle in front of the perp’s, it made the autonomous decision to disable the perp’s vehicle electronics, causing the vehicle to slow down.

Meanwhile, a chopper and a patrol car were sent to apprehend the perp at the vehicle.

Any attempt by the perp to leave the vehicle would result in shots being fired by the UAV (rubber bullets at first), an impenetrable net being cast over the perp fleeing on foot, or other means to prevent the perp from getting far away from the vehicle.

You can let your imagination run wild, too, by reading this article on domestic UAV approval.

Are we very far away from declaring that domestic criminal behaviour, no matter how petty, is a form of terrorism?

Citizen legislator, my/your/our freedom is in your hands.  Think twice before committing military resources to override local police jurisdictional authority.