Ripped from the Headlines

The rescue of a missing child is always a feel-good story.

Howard County police officers find missing Dayton girl via ground, drone search, video shows, WBALTV

The Howard County Police Department began using drones in 2020. (The following quotes are from an article by Jess Nocera in the Howard County Times.)

The Howard County, Md., Police Department has purchased three drones costing $33,800, with the procurement made possible in part by a $20,000 contribution from the Howard County Police Foundation.

Do you remember all the brouhaha about this decision?

In November, police announced the impending purchase of the drones, months after disbanding its aviation program, which ended in April 2019 due to the county’s anticipated deficit.

You may remember that I wrote about this back in 2019.

Fruit Salad, Village Green/Town², April 2019

Even though the discontinuation of the police aviation program had been advocated for by previous Republican County Executive, Allan Kittleman, critics chose to paint it as an attack on law and order by the new County Executive, who was a Democrat. The racist dog whistles and cheap and faulty arguments were burning up social media about this decision.

Folks even went so far as to suggest that County Executive Ball discontinued the police aviation program purely to reallocate those funds for a personal security detail for himself and his family, creating a connection where none existed. Why? It was purely an attempt to make Ball appear selfish and unprincipled. It was the cause celebre amongst the trolls.

There’s always something, isn’t there?

Well, it’s 2025 and the Howard County Police Department is using drones successfully to support law enforcement operations. And it’s not just us. Many police departments across the country are doing the same. That decision back in 2019 isn’t looking so bad now, is it?

If we had all the money in the world there are some folks who’d still be clamoring for police helicopters, I suppose. I wouldn’t. I’d choose fully funded schools and the new lakefront library: community investments that would, honestly, reduce the need for police helicopters, in my opinion.

In the meantime, I don’t expect the trolls to admit that maybe they were wrong. Do you?

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