Fear is high two weeks after a mass shooting left one dead and nine injured on the 75th Street business corridor, and members of the Chatham and Park Manor communities looked to the skies for a possible solution to the violence.
Such drones could be summoned through a smartphone app by businesses or individual residents could provide an eye-in-the-sky presence to fight crime, Ald.
A private Chicago-based company would provide the nascent service, which could be funded by business owners and or by the creation of an additional tax for residents of his ward who’d benefit from the service.
Sawyer said police can’t be in all places at all times, and envisioned a booming voice coming from a drone that would disrupt criminal behavior.
“We see you....we’re recording you right now... we see everything that you’re doing. You’re picking your nose right now. We see you!” Sawyer said.
Drone operators would be able to record video, keep tabs on people fleeing a crime scene and share information with police.
The drones could be coupled with on-the-ground private security officers, Sawyer said.
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Josephine Wade, owner of Josephine’s restaurant, expressed a willingness to give drones a try because she desperately wants a safe neighborhood.
“I own a business, and right now I’m frightened to death to even have anybody in the building it’s so much shooting,” she said. “If we could get a drone to monitor certain corridors, then maybe we can catch some of this crime.”
Chris Kelly, a retired truck driver and former Marine, said he’s in favor of a tough solution to crime.
“If you bring back the law, an eye for an eye, it will stop this mess. If you’re man enough to do the crime, you’re man enough to do the time. I’m sorry that’s just me. But a lot of people are more compassionate,” said Kelly.
He was open to the idea of private drones but said too often meetings like the one he attended resulted in “just talk.”
