Brazil’s President Proposes Drones to Remove Military Personnel From Front Line

By Xiu Ying

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday, June 21st, that he intends to submit a bill to Congress to allow the deployment of drones in law and order (GLO) operations so that servicemen are not in the criminals’ “line of fire”.

“I want to include in the project that, for the accomplishment of the mission, all options may be employed, even a drone platoon. I don’t want our policemen to be at the forefront of the firing line with incurable thugs, during an operation. If we have a platoon of drones out there to take care of it, that’s fine. But I depend on the Brazilian Congress,” said the president.

Bolsonaro should have lunch this Friday with the Minister of Defense, General Fernando Azevedo e Silva, to finalize the details of this project. “I hope this is the last stage so that we can submit a project, so that the lawmen, the armed forces, the police, etc., have a legal backup to be able to perform their job well,” he added.

The president also said that the project would be extended to protect the operations of federal, highway, military, and civilian police officers.

“It’s not fair to take a 20-year-old boy from the Brazilian Army, put a rifle on his chest and send him to the GLO mission. Then there’s an unforeseen event, because there may be an unforeseen event, and then you leave him for military scrutiny, for him to defend himself, which could mean from twelve to thirty years in prison,” Bolsonaro said.

President Bolsonaro’s announcement follows an international trend. Last year the New York Police Department announced that it had launched a new drone program.

The department said it would use its collection of drones — 14 in all — for search and rescue missions, crime scene documentation, hazmat incidents, large events like concerts and hostage situations.

Until March 2019, 348 U.S. agencies were using drones, which represents an increase of 518 percent over 24 months.